The Best Way to Forget Your Problems
by JuliaBeth
Summary: Joey's wife tells their now grown nieces and Kimmy how moving in with the Tanners after Pam's death saved their marriage. Chapter 20 is up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

* * *

2016

Suzie Gladstone walked up the stairs of the home she'd known so well. She'd spent more time there than anywhere else in her life.

Her once neighbor, and now the occupant of the attic apartment was laying with her head and torso on the kitchen table with her hands over her head.

"What's up with Gibbler?" Suzie asked Stephanie who was eating her cereal at the other end of the table as if oblivious to Kimmy.

"Fernando."

"Ah."

Fernando was Kimmy's estranged husband. Suzie knew enough to know he wanted to get back together but Kimmy was reluctant.

"What's the problem?" she asked, cheerily. "Maybe I can help?"

"No offense," Kimmy replied, raising her head. "But you and Joey have been together since the stone ages. I doubt you'd understand separation problems."

"What my tactless friend is trying to say is that you two have a perfect relationship," Stephanie covered quickly. "Y'all are like the poster couple for happy relationships. You never even argue much less fight."

"Well, while Kimmy might be right about the length of our relationship, you my dear, are dead wrong about the never fighting part." Suzie took a cup of coffee from DJ and sat down at the table. "In fact when we moved in here after Pam's death, we were about two big fights away from divorce court. Pretty much the only thing still holding us together at that point was sheer force of will." She took a sip of her coffee and leaned back in the chair. "That, and really good sex."

Stephanie choked and spit out her cereal before declaring, "Aunt Suzie! I'm trying to eat here! Don't put that image in my head."

"Sorry, Darling." She stood up and kissed her niece on the top of the head. "You know, you do live in our old room." She grinned. "I'll see you all tonight. Then I'll tell you what I know about separation."

* * *

1987

Suzanna walked into her apartment with the intent of getting a shower, some food, collapsing into her bed, and being comatose until 4 a.m. when she'd have to have the same exhausting day all over again.

"Hey, Babe, I'm home," she called out dropping her bag by the door and slipping her shoes off. Not getting an answer, she walked softly into the small kitchen where her husband would usually be cooking supper for the two of them. His job as a high school English teacher put him getting home from work four hours earlier than her job at the hospital let her.

A note propped against a Tupperware plate of roasted chicken and vegetables greeted her instead of his usually smiling face.

 _Gone to the club. Be back late._

 _Love_

 _-J_

She thought she'd be mad. In fact, she waited for the anger to come but was shocked when all she felt was relief. She loved Joey. She really did, but lately things hadn't been so great. He hated his job, preferring instead to spend time at the comedy club perfecting his routine while leaving his after hours school work, like grading papers and writing lesson plans to the last minute, often robbing them of the little time they did have together lately. Her job wasn't helping things either. She had just been promoted to head nurse of the ER at All Saints hospital. The hours were long and trauma filled often with gunshots, car accidents, the drunk and drugged out crowd, and one crisis after another stretching her seven to seven day shift into seven to eight, nine, ten, even midnight before she could drag herself home, eat cold leftovers, and stand under a scalding shower until the water turned cold, -(not long in their tiny apartment), before falling into bed until time to do it all over again. She wanted to quit, to go back to working the floor in maternity, but the pay for head nurse was too good to give up and Lord knew they needed it. Unfortunately, her frustration had bubbled over that morning with her screaming something at him about being a perpetual child. Now that she thought about it, that was probably why she had come home to an empty apartment and note. She held the note in her hand for a moment before grabbing a pen and scribbling:

 _Please don't wake me._

 _-S_.

* * *

4 a.m.

Suzanna groaned when her alarm blared out. She reached out to turn it off and tried to set up but Joey caught her, pulling her body back against his.

"Stay," he whispered, nuzzling her neck.

"I can't," she said, trying to pull away. About twice a month, this game ended with her cuddling up to him and being late for work, but she wasn't in the mood for that this morning.

"Be late," he replied, trailing kisses across her shoulders.

"Not this morning, Joe," she snapped, jerking away from his embrace more forcefully than she intended. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I just can't." Whether it was be late or be with him, she didn't clarify.

She padded into the bathroom, thinking about when the last time she had actually played their little game was. She was astonished to realize that it had been more than a month. In fact it had been more than a month since they had been intimate at all. She shook her head to clear the bad feelings that thought gave her and climbed into the shower. She had just finished washing her hair when she felt the door open. She looked back over her shoulder to see Joey step into the shower with her.

He didn't say anything, just pulled her into his arms and held her as the steaming water rushed over them both. When he did finally speak, it wasn't some self depreciating joke, or funny voice to make her laugh, instead he sounded just as tired and frustrated as she felt. "What's happening to us?"

She just shook her head.

He held her for another long moment before saying, "I love you, Suzie Q. I love you so much."

"I know." She turned to face him and slid her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. "I do know that, Joey." This time it wasn't stress that made her stay in the shower until the water was freezing.

By the time she had fixed her hair, put on her make up, and slipped into a pair a scrubs, Joey had fallen back to sleep. He was stretched out sideways across the bed as if he'd been waiting for her when he fell asleep. She resisted the urge to scold him for laying down in their bed with wet hair, and just grabbed the afghan off a chair and threw it over him. She leaned down and brushed a kiss across his lips. "I love you, too." But as she left, she wasn't so sure that was the truth anymore.

* * *

Please R and R. Tell me what you think and what you'd like to see.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

Warning: Teen pregnancy mentioned.

A/N: This story is AU. I've solved the problem of 'no way Danny and Pam could have afforded that house' by making it that Danny inherited his childhood home.

* * *

2016

"So, Deej," Stephanie walked into to DJ's office and sat down with her lunch.

"Do you believe what Aunt Sue was saying this morning? That she and Uncle Joey almost got a divorce? I don't remember them ever fighting, much less being on the brink of breaking up. I just remember them being all lovey-dovey all the time. I mean, if their relationship wasn't good, then I'm screwed. That's what I've been looking for."

"I don't know," DJ replied, taking a bite of her own lunch. "I mean, I don't remember it either, but maybe it seemed worse to her? We were like ten and five when they moved in, and had just gone through a major trauma, it's likely they managed to keep their drama from us. You know what? Let's ask someone who was not a kid at the time." She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

"Dad?" Stephanie questioned.

"No. Uncle Blabbermouth," she replied. After a few moments she smiled brightly and said, "Hey, Uncle Jesse." She put the phone on speaker phone and laid it down on her desk.

"Hey, Uncle Jesse," Stephanie said.

"Hey! How's two of my four favorite nieces doing?" Jesse's voice boomed through the speaker.

"We're good," DJ replied. "Listen, we want to ask you something about when we were kids."

"Lay it on me," he said, thinking it was going to be some simple 'settle the argument' question.

"Well, you know Aunt Suzie is staying at the house this week to attend a medical conference, right?"

"No," he replied. "How long is she staying? Becky and I would love to see her. Tell her detour back through LA."

"Anyway," Stephanie interrupted. "This morning she told us that when she and Uncle Joey moved in with us, they were, how did she say it, DJ?"

"About two big fights away from divorce court," she supplied.

"Two?" Jesse scoffed. "She was definitely being optimistic."

"What?!" Both women exclaimed.

"You have to remember this," Jesse replied. "Joey slept in the alcove for like a week, then he went on that trip without Sue? She was going to move out while he was gone."

"I remember Joey sleeping in the alcove!" DJ exclaimed. "But he told me that was because Aunt Suzie was sick."

"He didn't say what she was sick with or of," Jesse quipped. "Anyway, if Suzie hadn't gotten hurt so badly at work, they probably would have went ahead with the divorce. Sue had already rented an apartment closer to the hospital."

"Why?" Stephanie asked.

"Lot's of reason. You'll have to ask Joey or Suzie about it," he replied. " I mean, I knew broad strokes but it's not my place to tell you."

* * *

1987

"Well, look who's twenty minutes late," Pam Tanner said from her seat behind the admissions desk.

"What are you doing here?" Suzie asked, ignoring her smirk.

"Filling in for one of your four nurses who called in and doing it on my day off," she replied. "Say 'Thank you, Pam, the best sister-in-law in the world.'"

"Thank you, Pam, best sister-in-law in the world. Four? Really? I only have six on staff including myself," Suzie said.

"Well, it's Saturday and last night was a 49ers game, and two of the call ins are for night shift," Pam said, spinning around in the chair to where Suzie was clocking in. "But it sounded more self-sacrificing if I say four instead of two."

"Four is better," Suzie laughed.

"Does your being late mean you talked to Joey last night?"

"It wasn't last night and we didn't exactly talk, but yeah, things are okay today," she answered.

"I'll never understand how you, Danny, and Wendy all grew up in the same house but are so different," Pam said. "Danny lives for those big heart to heart talks. You try to distract from them at all costs."

"Well, if you can't distract Danny from talking, maybe you aren't doing something right," Suzie smirked.

"Just for that, Nurse Gladstone, the patient in cubicle three needs his meds. He's your favorite readmission," Pam said, holding out a chart. "And for your information, I just had a baby three months ago. I'm not medically allowed to distract him yet."

Suzie pushed the chart back with a mock scoff. "I'm head nurse, you deal with it."

"Gee, give a girl a hat, a badge, and an expo marker and she forgets who her friends are," Pam laughed. "He wants narcotics, above my pay grade. You're the only RN on duty."

"You need to go back to school and get your RN," she said, snatching the chart.

"I'll go back for my RN if you go for NP. Then we can open our own clinic. Talk more at lunch?"

"Deal." Suzie took the chart not specifying if lunch or school was the deal.

* * *

1987

Suzie wasn't sure how Pam had talked her into going out with her, Danny, and Joey to hear her brother's band play. First of all, Suzie knew Jesse Katsopolis and had never been a fan. Second, this trip involved waiting at Danny and Pam's house for her parents to come over to watch the girls.

It also meant Michelle. Her beautiful tiny little niece that she couldn't bring herself to hold. Twenty two times in ten years. Three dead rabbits. Nineteen blue vials. Seventeen weeks. Ten. Twelve. Eight surgeries. A shotgun wedding. And what did she have for it? A dying marriage and an inability to touch her niece and goddaughter.

"Look who's awake," Joey said, sitting down beside her with Michelle. Just the sight of him holding the baby made her recoil in pain. "Hey, Michelle," he continued. "Do you want to say hi to your Aunt Suzie?" He attempted to hand over the baby but Suzie shied away. "Come on, Sue," he said softly. "Just hold her. I know you love her."

Suzie reached out and stroked Michelle's cheek before abruptly jumping up and turning her attention to DJ and Stephanie's board game in the alcove. She didn't know how to tell him why she couldn't hold Michelle or why him holding her was so painful to see. She couldn't say the words aloud because then she would be a terrible person.

Ten years before she had sat in that same living room avoiding another difficult conversation. Another conversation that had changed both of their lives.

* * *

1977

Seventeen year old Suzanna ran to open the door of her house. She flung the door open just before Joey could ring the bell. She nearly knocked him backwards off the step, rushing into his arms and kissing him.

"Wow. I should come home more often," he joked. He and Danny were sophomores in at a college two hours away while Suzie was still in her senior year of high school.

Suzie forced a smile across her face and hugged him tightly before dragging him in the house.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"We need to talk."

"That's never good," he replied.

Three hours later she still hadn't worked up the nerve to tell him.

"Okay, Suzie Q," he said. "It's 10:30. If you used 'we need to talk' as a way to get me to come over and make out for a few hours, then I totally agree with that use of the term, but if you really need to tell me something, better spill it soon. Your mom is going to kick me out in like an hour or so."

She looked at him panicked again. "I...I,"

"Hey, just tell me," he said, tilting her chin so that she was looking him in the eye. "It can't be that bad. I can take it."

"Joe, I'm..., I'm pregnant," she finally spit out.

"You're..., you're..., Whoa," was all he could manage to say.

* * *

Please R and R.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU. Child abuse discussed.

* * *

2016

"Love you all," Suzie said into her phone as DJ came in for the evening. She put the phone down and looked up. "Hey, DJ. How was your day?"

"Good," she replied. "We didn't expect you back so soon today. Everyone else is still out."

"Well, I wanted to be able to talk to kids before Joey left for work," Suzie explained.

"I can't believe you are adopting four kids at once," DJ said, once the call ended. "And at your...,"

"Don't you dare," Suzie interrupted with a warning, reaching out to take Tommy from DJ. "Well, adoption was always kind of the plan, but then Savannah was born, and you know, she had so many health problems, it wasn't possible. Then, about a year ago, Joey brought up the ideal of fostering a child. Like, two days after we were approved, our caseworker called and said she need to place a special needs child and asked if we were willing. We agreed to take in Joan and found out that she was actually part of a sibling group but the family that had taken in Phyl, Jerry, and Lewis, wouldn't take her because of her problems. We decided that we would take all of them. When we heard their names, it just seemed right. Like they were meant to be ours. So after a few months, we, and they, decided to start the adoption process."

"When will the adoption be final?" DJ asked.

"We have two more court dates. We're having some issues with their birth dad. I just wish it didn't take so long for their sake," Suzie sighed. "They've had a hard life and been through some really bad stuff. Phyl is extremely distrustful and distance, the boys are doing better, though Lewis still has nightmares and Jerry has a tendency to overreact to situations. Joan has severe anxiety and she's terrified of strangers," Suzie said. "She loves Joey, she's warming up to me, but anyone else, forget it. He knows just how to help her. At the opening party for his new show last month, he spent most of the night sitting under the table with Joan. Reporters were swarming everywhere wanting to talk to him and he's under the table playing Barbie with Jojo. He was like, 'Want to talk to me, grab a doll and have a seat but not too close'."

"I actually saw some clips from that," DJ laughed. "It was on all the talk shows. All the hosts were talking about what a good dad he is. I was standing in my waiting room, all like, 'Yep, practice kid right here. Taught him everything he knows'. Then I realized everyone was looking at me talking back to the TV and ran back to my office."

Suzie laughed. "Well, it was you who showed me that if we ever did have kids, I'd have to be the enforcer. That's the funny thing though: the toughest thing about taking in the little munchkins is that, you know, you girls, Savannah, and Nicky and Alex were like, a group collaboration between us five adults. There was a never a question of how, just who was going to do whatever. Now, it's just Joe and me and the occasional nanny that Joan will tolerate."

"Still, you guys are doing a great thing. Those kids need parents like you," DJ said.

"Almost as much as we need them," Suzie countered.

"You know, you blew Steph and I away this morning by saying you and Uncle Joey almost got divorced once. It was almost as bad as when you told us that you got pregnant in high school," DJ said. "We always thought you two were so in love. But then we called Uncle Jesse..."

"That big mouth," Suzie muttered. "What did Uncle Big Mouth tell you? I swear he tells everything. You know he was the one who told your grandparents that I was pregnant way back when, right?"

* * *

1977

Jessie Katsopolis wasn't sure how he got roped into dinner with the Tanners. Pam had actually married that doofus Danny so now Irene thought that the families should get to know each other. Probably just assuage her guilt for insisting that Pam and Danny stay with them when they were in town from school. Still, he didn't see why that had to include him. He already knew doofus Danny and he knew Suzie Tanner too. She was in his class. She was pretty cool back in junior high, but then she started cheer-leading, getting good grades, sucking up to the teachers, your basic goody-two-shoes stuff. Oh, and then to add insult to injury, she dumped Pete for Danny's equally doofus friend, Joey Gladstone.

Well, maybe Gladstone wasn't as much a doofus as Danny was. He could actually play most sports instead of just write about them like Danny. He was actually really good at hockey. And, if Jesse was being completely honest, Suzie didn't dump Pete so she could date Joey but because she caught him sucking face with Karen Santoni. Gladstone was just the guy she started dating next. Besides, that had been three years before.

"So, Jesse," Claire Tanner said. "Graduation is coming up soon. Are you excited?"

"Excited to leave that hell hole," he replied.

Nick Katsopolis smacked him lightly on the back of the head, more ruffling his hair than anything. "Watch your mouth," he commanded.

"Are you going to college?" Claire asked.

"No," Jesse said, rather sharply. "I get to kill bugs for the rest of my life. Don't need college to kill bugs."

"Forgive my son," Nick replied. "He thinks he's going to be the next Elvis Presley."

"Well, Suzie's been accepted to UCLA, Berkeley, Colorado State, and Cal State," Claire replied, proudly.

"Wonderful," Irene Katsopolis replied, genuinely impressed. "Pam said she wants to go into medicine. Does she want to be a doctor?"

"Pediatrics," Claire said. "She's got full scholarship the UCLA for their medical program. She's probably going there."

Jesse would never be able to say what possessed him to say the next words out of his mouth. First, it was just gossip and he was too cool to spread gossip, even if it had come from his girlfriend Carrie, who herself claimed to have witnessed it. Second, he didn't really have anything against Suzie, and third, he would have never dreamed that it was true. Maybe it was to let the Tanners know they weren't as prefect as they seemed, or maybe it was because he could tell Nick was getting warmed up for another 'Jesse is wasting his life' tirade, he really didn't know.

"Still? Even though she's knocked up?"

There was a moment of absolute silence as all eyes turned towards him and you could practically hear everyone's brain processing what he'd just said. Then everything happened at once.

Nick smacked him in the back of the head again and this time it wasn't light or playful. Claire declared Suzie's innocence, his own mom hadn't spoke, neither had Mr. Tanner, but both looked like they were going to explode.

"Mom, what's knocked up mean?" Wendy, Danny's baby sister asked, looking up from her plate.

"Nothing, Sweetie, finish your food," Claire said before turning on Jesse. "You are a rude, insolent boy. How dare you say something like that about my daughter?"

"You don't say things like that," Nick yelled. "What's a matter with you?"

"I didn't say it," Jesse defended himself. "The whole school is saying it. Carrie says Suzie spends most of first period in the ladies room puking her guts up." He turned to look at Claire, when he realized that Danny and Pam hadn't spoken a word. They were both studiously looking at their plates as if Ma's pasta primavera was the most interesting thing in the world, but would occasionally glance at each other with stricken looks. That's when he realized that it just might be true. Did they know something no one else at the table did?

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Tanner," he said, suddenly, getting up from the table. He hadn't meant to really out Suzie. He just wanted to not hear another 'Jesse is a waste of space' lecture. "I'm sure it's just school gossip. Pam, sorry I ruined your dinner." With that he ran upstairs to his room. The dinner broke up soon after.

He thought Pam was going to kill him. His parents weren't speaking to him. His bike was busted and he knew better than to try to ask to borrow his dad's car tonight, so he was stuck. He knew Pete would be out already and Carrie had gone to Napa with her family. He finally just laid down on his bed and closed his eyes.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep but it was midnight when he was awakened by a tap on his bedroom door. A few seconds later, without waiting for him to answer, Pam tiptoed into his room and sat down on the foot of his bed.

After a long moment she said, "Wow." She held her hands up and stared at him for an answer.

He sighed and dropped his head back against his pillow. "I just couldn't hear another 'Jesse is a stupid waste of space' speech."

"No one has ever said that you're stupid, Jess, or that you are a waste of space," she said.

"No. Dad just says that everything I do or want to do is stupid," he replied. "To him, not going to college is the same as throwing my whole life away. Why can't he support my music?"

Pam was silent.

"He's making me go to work for him. Why do I have to go to college, too? I don't need college to crawl around under houses and kill bugs and I don't need college to play my music. He just wants me to be exactly like him."

"No, he doesn't, Jesse. He wants anything but that," she said. "He's 42 years old and he's been crawling under houses and killing bugs since he was 15. He's so stuck on you going to college, because he thinks that if you learn how to run a business, then one day, you can wear a suit, sit in the air conditioned office and collect the money while you pay some other guys to wear jumpsuits and crawl under houses."

Jesse looked down at his hands. He'd never thought about it that way. "Its just not what I want to do, Pammie," he said.

"Do you have any ideal the bomb you dropped in Danny's family tonight?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Is it true?"

Pam nodded.

"I figured if it was true, her family would know," he said. "I mean, Carrie told me that two months ago."

"Well,the Tanners aren't like mom and dad," she said. "More specifically, Mr. Tanner is nothing like dad. He's..., really strict."

"What's he gonna do at this point? Disown her," Jesse scoffed. It wasn't the 1950's. However, the look on Pam's face once again made him regret his words.

"He hits them, Jesse," she said. "And not like Dad smacking your hair to remind you to watch your mouth or popping us on the behind when he thought what we were doing would hurt us more than that. He hurts them. Once Danny was fifteen minutes late getting home because he had a flat tire and Mr. Tanner gave him a black eye."

"Oh wow," Jesse mumbled, realizing just how large the bus he'd thrown Suzie under was. "But the Tanners always seem like the perfect family."

Pam nodded. "Mrs. Claire works very hard to make it seem that way. They're not all neurotic clean freaks like you like to pick on Danny about. Just Mr. Bill is, the rest are just trying to survive."

"Was it bad?"

"It wasn't good," Pam replied. "So, do you want to go to Sutter Creek with us?"

"What's in Sutter Creek?"

"A wedding chapel that isn't likely to ask to see proof of Suzie's age," Pam said.

"No way?!"

She shrugged. "She can't go back home. Not after what happened tonight. Besides this was always the plan, she was just trying to wait until she graduated because if the school finds out...,"

"They'll kick her out," Jesse interrupted. He'd never understood that policy. Girls got kick out for getting married or getting pregnant but guys didn't get kick out if they got married or got a girl pregnant. "Sure I'll go," he said. "And tell her don't worry, by Monday at noon, no one will be talking about her."

"How's that, Brother?"

"Please. I can cause a bigger story than a pregnant girl before first period," he grinned.

"I'm counting on it," she smiled back.

* * *

Please R and R.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU.

* * *

1987

It was an unusually slow day in the ER and Suzie was taking advantage of the quiet to sit in her office and catch up on paperwork. She was making the next month's nursing schedule when Pam stuck her head in the door.

"Hey, you busy?"

"Always. What's up?" she asked.

"Thought you might like to take a lunch break," Pam said. "Or would, at the very least, let me eat my lunch in here since Dr. Creepy has taken over the lounge."

Dr. Creepy was the name they had given an ER physician they both hated to work with.

"Sure," Suzie smiled, sitting back from her books. "My office is your office."

"Thanks." Pam took a seat on the couch. "Are you going to see Joey at the club tonight?"

"If I get everything done, no one calls in for night shift, and I get out of here on time," she answered, picking up her pen. "You want to work some nights next month?"

"Yeah, I bugged my sister-in-law for six months to apply for the Head Nurse position so I could work nights again," Pam replied with a grin.

"That's nepotism," Suzie shot back.

"Okay," Pam replied. "Give me one more month at home at night with Michelle, then I'll work a whole month of nights and getting her to sleep can be Danny's problem."

"Deal." She kept writing as Pam opened her lunch. "What is that? It smells repulsive."

"Your mom's pot roast," Pam replied. "I'm supposed to share."

"Awesome, but seriously, you're gonna have to close that or leave my office," Suzie said.

"Yesterday surgical glue made you light headed," Pam said.

"Yeah, cause that idiot used way too much," Suzie said. "He made everybody high."

"Today, your mom's pot roast, quite possibly your favorite food in this world, makes you sick to even smell it," Pam continued.

"Just what are you getting at, Tanner?"

"That I think Michelle is going have playmate," Pam smirked.

"No, she's not," Suzie protested, but then she paused. "No. No." All of a sudden she threw her pen down. "It's not possible."

"Really?"

"Well, its not impossible, but no. No."

"I'll be back," Pam shot to her feet and took off down the hall. She came back a few minutes later and threw a box on Suzie's desk.

"Did you just steal this from the supply room?" Suzie asked.

"Yes, I did."

"So, you stole something, then you brought it to your boss?"

"Yes, I did." Pam said again.

"It won't work. It's too late in the day."

"Just go, huh?" she replied, pulling Suzie up from her desk.

"I thought I was the boss?" she questioned.

"You may be the boss but you're still the little sister. Now go before I go steal a needle kit."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

1987

"Hey, Sis," Danny said. "Has Joey went on yet? We couldn't get Michelle to sleep." He took Pam's jacket and pulled her chair out for her.

She shook her head. "Two more sets before his. He'll be right back."

"Good. I'm going to get us a drink," he said. "You want something?"

She looked at the glass in front of her. "Just a soda. I'm on call."

As soon as Danny left the table, Pam scooted her chair to Suzie's side. "Did you tell Joey?"

"Not yet."

"Why not? Come on. Everything is going to be fine this time. I know it. And he'll be ecstatic. And...," Pam let her thoughts drop as she was about to say that Suzie would need him if it wasn't fine.

"Tonight," she promised. "When we get home."

Halfway through Joey's act, she felt her pager buzz. She ignored it at first, but they kept calling until she couldn't ignore it. There had been an accident on the freeway and it was all hands on deck. At least for the upper level nurses.

"I have to go," she said, coming back from the pay phone in the foyer. She kissed Joey. "I'm sorry, Babe. Apparently there was a big accident. I'll be home as soon as I can."

"What about me?" Pam asked.

She shook her head. "Just RNs. Brandy and David have to go to OR so I have to go replace them."

"Want me to take you?" Joey offered.

"Nah. I'll take a cab. Stay and enjoy your night." She kissed him again. "I'm off tomorrow and not on call. See you guys later." She hugged Pam and Danny before leaving.

* * *

Three hours later, she was cleaning up. She had managed to find another nurse to take the rest of the shift and she was more than ready to get home. She had just changed out of the hospital scrubs and was headed to her office to get her keys when she heard the call come over the speakerphone from the ambulance. Two car collision. A drunk driver had ran a red light and t-boned a car coming through the intersection. Both drivers were injured but in stable condition, but the passenger of car had coded twice. Two minutes out.

Suzie looked down at the clothes she had worn to the Laugh Machine that evening. She wouldn't have time to change again and her replacement wouldn't be in for another fifteen minutes. With nothing else to do, she grabbed the crash cart and was at the bay doors when the first ambulance pulled in.

* * *

Please R and R.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU. Thank you to the reader who pointed out that DJ was born in 1977. I had my timeline wrong in my head, thinking that she was born in 1978. I've corrected that in the previous chapter to be that Danny and Pam were already married when Joey and Suzie eloped.

* * *

1987

The ambulance bay was bathed in red light as the first ambulance pulled in. The driver jumped out, spouting information as he opened the doors.

"Twenty-nine year old white male. Unconscious, compound fracture to left leg, large laceration to forehead, vitals stable...," he continued to relay statics but Suzie wasn't hearing him. She stood rooted to the spot.

"Danny. No. Please no." She watched the gurney pass by her. If the first patient was Danny, who she knew would never drink and drive, then the passenger had to be Pam.

"Nurse Gladstone!" The ward clerk was yelling her name, waiting for directions. At this, Suzie snapped to action.

"Put him in trauma one. First call the code team, then get ortho/neuro, x-ray, and call surgical and let them know not to leave," she called out. "Call anyone else you can find to come in."

By this time, the second ambulance had pulled up. Suzie, Dr. White, and two other nurses made it to the doors before the driver had even put it in park. Dr. White jerked the doors open to see the other paramedic and a fireman were doing CPR.

For the next forty-five minutes, the team worked furiously to try to save their friend, but to no avail.

"We have to call it," Dr. White said softly.

"No."

"Suzie, it has to be done." He pulled her back from the gurney. He motioned for another nurse. "Take her out of here."

"No," Suzie protested. "I won't argue. I want to be with her. I'll take care of her."

"Okay," he conceded. There wasn't a dry eye in the room as the doctor announced the official time of death, not even his own. Pam had been one of their own. She was their friend, that funny nurse that staked out triage, made horrible coffee, and was the only one brave enough to tell Nurse Gladstone to lighten up. There was no shortage of volunteers to help with the final preparations as even nurses from other floors filed down to the ER to show their support.

"How's Danny?" Suzie asked of the nurse she'd assigned to his case.

"In surgery," he replied. "He will be out of commission for while, but the prognosis is good for no long term damage."

Once Pam's body had been transported downstairs, Suzie looked around the trauma room at all the used medical supplies they'd been too hurried to properly put away or dispose of. She looked at the blood in drops on the floor, then finally at her own reflection in the glass window pane. Her white shirt was stained red as were her jeans. Then for the first time in her nursing career, she threw up from the sight of what she'd witnessed.

She numbly walked to the nurse's locker room and pulled off her blood soaked clothes and stuffed them in a trash can, not really caring in the moment, if she had any extra clothes in her locker. She scrubbed her hands, her arms, and body until her skin was pink. Finally getting out of the shower when she had composed herself. She dressed quickly in the clean scrubs someone had thoughtfully retrieved from the laundry.

A ward clerk called her name, but Karen Santoni, the nurse she had called in an hour, before wrapped her hand over the young man's mouth.

"Don't worry about this place," she said. "You go be with your family. I got this."

Suzie nodded at her, gratefully. To think there was a time when the two women didn't like each other.

She walked into her office and sat down behind the desk without bothering to turn on the lights. She put her head in hands and thought about what to do. The Katsopolis' were at Danny's with the girls so the hospital, or worse, the police would be making that call, but she needed to call Joey, call her mom, and try to track down Wendy. And she supposed she should call their dad too, but she didn't reach for the phone. She heard a soft knock on the door. She looked up, expecting to see a coworker needing something but instead, "Joey!" She stood up and rushed into his arms before giving way to tears again.

They stood like that for what seemed like forever. Her clutching him close and sobbing against his chest while he rubbed her back and whispered comforting words.

"How?" She asked.

"Karen called me when they couldn't get an answer at Danny's. Turns out DJ had turned the ringer off so that her grandparents wouldn't know she stayed up late talking to Kimmy Gibbler," he replied. "I went over and picked up Irene and Nick and brought them here and I called Jesse. He'll be here with them soon. I got Claire a red eye flight out of Seattle, she should be landing around two. There's a car waiting to bring her to the hospital. Wendy said she'll catch the first flight she can from Rio and she should be here by this afternoon. Mrs. Gibbler is watching the girls for now, but Mom is on her way down from Mill Valley and she'll stay with them as long as she needs too."

Suzie looked at him, slightly amazed. She'd been so busy pushing him away lately, being annoyed and aggravated with him that she'd forgotten just how great he could be in a crisis.

"Thank you," she whispered, glad to not have to make those calls. That was a huge weight off her shoulders.

"And...," he hesitated. "I talked to your dad. He said to let him know how Danny and Pam were. That was before we knew anything except that they'd been in an accident. Claire called him and then he called Danny's while I was still there."

"He need to be told," she said. "Just glad I didn't have to call him."

"Let's get you out of here," he said, leading her out of the office.

* * *

Please R and R.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU.

* * *

1987

Suzie couldn't stand sitting still. She kept walking the hall between the surgery waiting room and the doors to the surgical suite and back. She'd talked to the pre-op nurses, the recovery team, she knew everything she could possibly know. Finally the recovery nurse smiled at her and said, "Ten minutes. Everything looks good. Go back to the waiting room. The doctor will be out to speak to you soon."

"He made it," she said with a sigh of relief as she entered the waiting room. It was just Joey and Jesse there with her. Nick had taken Irene home to try and rest, leaving Jesse there to report back the minute they heard anything about Danny. That was the only way Irene would leave. Claire hadn't made it in yet. She sat down beside Joey and put her head on his shoulder. "The doctor'll be out soon to talk to us."

"Thank God," Jesse replied, sitting down on her other side and patting her hand. He wasn't exactly what you'd call friends with the Gladstones, but they did share the cutest nieces in the world, so they had been on friendly terms all these years.

Suzie looked at him for a long moment, then hugged him. "Jess, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah," he replied, allowing her to hug him. "Well, those girls can't loose Danny too." He pulled away and looked out the window, trying to hide that he was wiping away tears.

"Suzanna?" A tall, blonde man dressed in scrubs stood at the door.

"Dr. McCarty? You came in for this?" she said, surprised. He was the best and most in demand orthopedic surgeon in town. He definitely wasn't the one who came out for late night emergencies.

"Well, when I heard it was your brother, and Pam's husband, I had to," he replied. "Man, Sue, I just can't believe it. You must be in such shock. I don't think I've ever seen you and Tanner apart." He walked over and hugged her before pulling a chair over in front of her and sitting down. He took one of her hand in both of his. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Doctor, I'd like you to meet my husband, Joey, and this is Pam's brother, Jesse," Suzie said.

McCarty shook hands with both men briefly before turning his attention back to Suzie and began telling the details of Danny's surgery, finishing up with, "I'm going to keep him sedated tonight, then I'd like him to stay a few days so we can be sure that infection isn't setting in."

"He won't stay," Suzie replied. "He has three daughters at home who just lost their mother. He's not going to be away from them any longer than he has to. So unless you're going to keep him sedated for the next few days, we'll have to come up with a plan B."

"I was afraid you'd say that," McCarty replied. "Well, let's see how the day goes. If he does well today, I'll consider releasing him to home care tomorrow if you'll over see it."

"Thank you, Dr. McCarty. Whatever I need to do," she agreed.

"Please, call me Tom. Listen, I know the owner of the best private nursing service in San Francisco. I'll get her in touch with you. I think between you and her nurses that Daniel will be in good hands to go home. Provided that he does well today of course." He fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a card and scribbling on the back of it before handing it to Suzie. "Here. This is my private number. It calls me, not the service. If you need anything, anything at all, feel free to call me, day or night, I don't mind." He put the card in her hand, then folded her fingers over it. "I'm just so sorry for you loss. For all of you. Pamela was a sweet girl. She'll be missed here." He stood up, looked towards the door, then back at Suzie. "You know, they'll be moving your brother to a room soon, but I could probably sneak you back to recovery if you promise to remember that you are the family member and not the nurse."

"Do you mind?" she asked Joey and Jesse. "I mean can you two update everyone? I'd like to be with him, in case he wakes up."

"You go," Joey replied. "We can handle the calls."

"Thanks, Babe." She kissed him, hugged Jesse again, then stood up and allowed Dr. McCarty to lead her out of the room.

Joey sat there silent for a moment before looking at Jesse. "Did that guy really just...,"

"Use my sister's death to hit on your wife with both of us sitting right here?" Jesse interrupted.

"You saw it too?"

"I wanted to punch him," Jesse replied. "Here's my personal, private number, direct number." He imiatated handing Joey a card. "What a jerk."

Both men chuckled softly.

Jesse stood up. "Come on, let's go find some phones. I'll call my folks and you check on the girls cause that's going to be mom's second question."

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter, the next will be longer. Please R and R.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU.

* * *

1987

Claire arrived shortly after Danny had been moved to a room. It was then decided that she would go to the Tanner house and that Nick and Irene would meet her there after daylight and together, they would break the news to the girls. Jesse had gone home. Joey had taken Claire to Danny's. That left Susie alone, to stay with, and eventually break the news to Danny.

She pulled his blankets up higher, fluffed pillows, straightened IV lines, anything she could think of to keep from thinking of the events of the day. When there was nothing else she could possible do, she set down on the guest sofa. There was a tap, then the door opened slightly.

"You came back?"

"Of course." Joey crossed the small room and sat down beside her. He put his arms around her. "You're here, I'm here. That's how this works, remember?"

"What about the girls?"

"They have your mom, my mom, the Katsopolis', and Jesse. It's five on three. I think they're covered," he replied. "At least for a few hours, anyway."

Suzie smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For remembering how this works," she said, snuggling against him. "I really love you."

"I love you, too."

"Dr. McCarty was right about one thing," she said. "I don't know what I'll do without Pam. She's my best friend."

"And I can remember when even the mention of Pam made your eyes roll," he replied.

"God, I was such a brat," she snickered.

"Was?" he scoffed.

"Yes, was," she replied. "I don't think we would have become friends if I had gone to UCLA. Remember that first year we were married and you and Danny were working nights at that radio station? Well, Pam hated to stay home alone, so as soon as Danny would leave for work, she would come over to our apartment and then leave with just enough time to get home and get in bed before he got home, but she didn't want him to know, so we never said anything and I didn't care, because she knew the answers to my homework. And everything about everyone."

"I hate to ruin your memory but we knew that," he replied.

"What?"

"Well, if we didn't know she spent every Friday and Saturday night with you, don't you think I would have been a little more concerned that you always washed two plates, two glasses, and two coffee cups on nights that you claimed to be home alone, doing your homework, watching TV, and going to bed?" he questioned.

"Good point," she laughed. "I wasn't exactly discreet, huh? Not telling was Pam's thing, though. She didn't want Danny to tease her about being scared." She fell silent for a moment. "How are we going to tell him this?"

"I don't know," Joey said, quietly. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around both of them. "Here. Don't worry about that now. Try to get some rest."

She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was sure that she wouldn't fall asleep, but when she opened them again, it was daylight and Danny was looking at her and Joey with a pained look on his face.

"Danny?" She jumped up and went to his bedside, her actions waking Joey who joined her. "How are you feeling?"

"Do you need anything?" Joey asked.

Danny shook his head. After two or three tries, he finally asked, "She didn't make it, did she?"

"I'm sorry," she said.

Danny nodded, then looked away. "I knew you wouldn't both be here if she was okay."

"Danny...," Joey didn't seem capable of finishing his thought, if there ever had been one to finish and instead just hugged his friend tightly and let him cry.

"Joe, what am I going to do?" Danny asked when he could talk again.

"Hey, we're here for you," Joey replied. "Suzie and I are here for whatever you need."

"Did she suffer?" he asked Suzie.

She shook her head. "No. She never felt anything."

"She wanted ice cream. She said her parents were watching the girls and we should make the most of it," he said. "I asked her what exactly that would include, she laughed and said 'Let's go get ice cream and not have to share it with anyone.' So we went and had ice cream. We were headed home. The light turned green. I saw the truck, but...I couldn't do anything." He fell into silent tears again. "Oh, God. The girls. Where are the girls?" He started trying to get up.

"Easy," Suzie said, holding his shoulders. "Don't try to get up. The girls are fine."

"Yeah," Joey said. "Their grandparents and Jesse are with them."

"Do they know?"

"Nick, Irene, and Mom are going to tell them when they wake up this morning," Suzie replied.

"I've got to get home," Danny said, trying to get up again. "I need to be there with them."

"Danny, stop!" Suzie said. "I'm trying to get you discharged in the morning, but today you're going to have to be a good patient. You have to do what the doctor says, what the nurses say, and most important, what I say," she smiled. "Listen, mom's going to come back in a few hours, the girls can come visit this morning, and Joey and I'll be here if you need us, okay?"

Danny nodded. "Don't let the girls come up here. If I'm going home tomorrow, it'll just scare them."

"Do you need anything?"

"Just let me have some time alone, okay?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. She hugged him. "We'll check back in a bit."

* * *

2016

"Steph, you sure you don't mind me crashing in here with you?" Suzie asked. "I don't mind going to the hobbit hole if you want some privacy."

"Nah. I don't need any privacy. I have no life," Stephanie shrugged, sitting down on her bed. "Beside, sleep over with Aunt Suzie used to be the highlight of my week."

"To be perfectly honest, it wasn't the highlight of mine, and it definitely wasn't the highlight of Joey's. Don't get me wrong, I loved pilling up in my bed, eating junk food, and Disney-ing out but, sleeping with you was like sleeping with an octopus wearing combat boots. Joey usually ended up on the sofa," Suzie laughed.

"Is that why we started sleeping on the floor in our sleeping bags on Suzie/Stephanie movie nights?"

"Restraining your arms and legs was essential," Suzie replied, changing into her pajamas. "Even when it was just you and me, you still kicked and rolled and pushed me out of the bed."

"I was a horrible kid," Stephanie said.

"You were great. You just had no boundaries," Suzie laughed. "In fact you are the reason those doors have locks. Even then, you'd just knock until we gave in and opened the door. I'm going to have to teach Tommy that crying bit."

"Don't you dare," Stephanie said. "That kid is cute enough as it is." She was silent for a minute. "Hey, Aunt Suzie, can I tell you something?"

"Sure, Sweetie, you can tell me anything."

"When I was really little and didn't realize what that meant, I didn't want you and Uncle Joey to have a baby because I was your baby. I mean, even before you moved in here, you two would come pick me up and take me places and just treated me so special. I know now that it was because DJ was doing something I couldn't but still, you all never made me feel like you were just doing Mom and Dad a favor. But now," her voice caught and she paused for a moment. "Now, I know what you were going through and I understand how hard it was, and I just want to say that I'm so sorry for ever even wishing that on you."

"Oh, Honey, you were a little kid who had no ideal what us not having children after ten years of marriage meant. You were just old enough to know that you enjoyed spending time with us and smart enough to know that if we had a baby, that time would significantly decrease," Suzie said, sitting down beside her. "You weren't wishing infertility on me, you were just a little girl who didn't want to share her favorite people anymore than she already had to. You don't have anything to apologize for. Besides, when Savvy was born, no one loved her more than you did. You were always down here offering to help with her. What brought this up?"

"I found out that I'm never going to be able to have a baby," Stephanie admitted. "It's just not going to happen for me. And it's so weird, because it wasn't even something I thought that I wanted until I found out that I couldn't have it and please, don't tell me that the doctors are wrong and it will happen when the time is right. Everyone says that and I hate it."

"Sweetie." Suzie hugged her niece. "I'm so sorry to hear that. I get it though. I understand how you feel. Every time I got pregnant, I was elated and then every loss was just devastating. It felt like I was somehow broken that I couldn't do this one thing that it felt like every other woman could do. But you know, there are so many ways to have a family and having a being exit your body is only one way. You can't be putting all this pressure on yourself, and yes, if you are apologizing for being a little kid who just wanted to keep her favorite Aunt to herself, then you are pressuring yourself. That's not good. It'll drive you crazy and cause you to drive those you love crazy. I think that is a lot of the reason that Joey and I were having so much trouble when Pam died and we moved in here. I was pushing him away because I felt like I was failing him and that he deserved to be with someone who could do the thing that I felt like I couldn't. But look at us now. We are in sight of sixty and we have four little kids who need us and we need them. And we have Savvy and as hard as it is to admit, she is capable of making us grandparents at any time. Family looks however it looks. Look at our family. For the longest time, it was a Dad, three daughters, an Aunt, and two uncles. Then two Aunts, then twin cousins, then another cousin. Do you know how much Savvy's therapists loved our multi-family? They were always talking about us. In a good way, not like the moms in the neighborhood talked about us. We were trendy before it was trendy." She wiped her eyes and smiled. "One day, if you want, you will be an amazing Mom, or step-mom, or foster-mom, and you're already that crazy, cool Aunt."

"Well, I had a good role model," Stephanie laughed. "Hey, you know what, we should like, get in bed, get Mr. Bear, and take a throwback selfie and send it to Uncle Joey."

"Ah, he would love that. Let's do it. Do you still have Mr. Bear?" she asked.

Stephanie grinned. "Of course. He goes everywhere I do. Of course he doesn't get out my suitcase a whole lot anymore, but I can't travel without him." She went over to the closet and rummaged around for a moment before pulling the much loved bear out and grabbed her phone before posing. "#AuntSuzieSleepOver! #WeLoveYou!" She captioned the snap before sending it off.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait, won't happen again. Please R and R.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU.

* * *

1987

Suzie had agreed to meet the home health nurse at Danny's house to see what needed to be done before he came home.

"Aunt Suzie!" Stephanie came running to the front door and practically jumped into Suzie arms. "I knew you would come." She hid her tear-stained and blotchy face in Suzie's neck. "I knew it."

"I'm here," Suzie replied, hugging her. "I'm here."

"Suzanna, Darling. Come here," Mindy Gladstone followed Stephanie. She enveloped both Suzie and Stephanie in a big hug. "I'm so sorry, Sweetheart."

Suzie hugged her back. Her mother-in-law was quite possibly the ditziest person on the planet, but she was definitely the kindest. "Thanks, Mom."

"You know her?" Stephanie asked, incredulously as Suzie pulled away to adjust her grip in Stephanie.

"Yes I do," she replied. "And though you haven't seen her in a really long time, you do too."

"She says she is Uncle Joey's Mommy," Stephanie said, accusingly.

"That's because she is," Suzie replied.

"He has a Mommy?" Stephanie questioned with disbelief.

"Of course," Suzie couldn't help but laugh. "He has a daddy too. What do you think? He just appeared one day? Or maybe that he's an alien?"

"Well," Stephanie shrugged.

"Well, yourself," Suzie tickled her causing her to giggle.

"Where's Daddy?"

"He has to stay at the hospital just a little while longer, Sweetie, but he'll be home in the morning." Just then the doorbell rang. "That's probably the nursing agency. Here, Steph, go in the kitchen with Ms. Mindy."

"I want to stay with you," Stephanie said, tightening her grip.

"Come on, Sweetheart," Mindy said. "Let's go fix Aunt Suzie some lunch."

"No!" Stephanie held Suzie tighter. "No. No. NO!"

"Okay, no. You know what, this is fine," Suzie replied, pulling on Stephanie's arms. "You can come with me, but you have to let go some. Aunt Suzie needs to breath."

For the next two hours, Suzie directed setting up a makeshift bedroom in the alcove for Danny, while shifting Stephanie from arm to arm.

When she returned to the hospital, she wasn't in the best spirits. She was glad to see that Danny was sleeping when she entered the small room. She practically collapsed on the small sofa.

"How did it go?" Joey asked.

"Oh, fine, except when I had to leave, Mr. Nick had to practically pry Stephanie off of me kicking and screaming that if I left, I might not come back," she replied.

"She's taking it hard," Claire said. "Even worse than we thought she would."

"On the plus side, she thinks you're an alien," Suzie said to Joey. "She was quite surprised to find out that you have a mom."

"Where does she get this stuff?" Joey said with a smile.

"Oh, I don't know," Suzie teased. "I can see why she'd think you were an alien."

"You married me," he replied.

"I did." She laced her fingers through his. "How has Danny been?"

"Sleeping," Claire said. "He's been asleep since I've been here."

"Well, considering how much medication he's on, I don't doubt it," Suzie said.

"Probably a good thing," Joey said. "When he is awake, he's not doing well. And he's going crazy about not being able to be with the girls."

The room was silent for a few minutes, save for hiss of an IV machine.

Suzie looked at Joey. He looked so tired. She could only imagine that she looked the same. The last twenty-four hours had been interminably long. She brushed his hair back from his face. "Did you eat lunch?"

He shook his head. "Danny was awake and I wanted to be here if he needed anything."

"Come on, let's go find you some lunch," Suzie said, standing up and holding out her hand. "He'll be asleep for a while and mom's here. Mom have the nurses page me if Danny wakes up."

She led him to small canteen near the ER.

"Hi, Mr. John," she said.

"Oh, Nurse Suzie," the older man replied, coming around the counter to hug her. "I heard about Pam. She was a good, sweet girl. I will miss her." His eyes swam with tears.

"Don't you cry, Mr. John," Suzie replied. "If you do, I will."

"Right," he replied, wiping his eyes and returning to his usual gruff manner as he stepped back behind the counter. "What do you need?"

Still he refused to let her pay for the food she ordered, then halfway through the meal he brought over a bag full of candy.

"Here, take this to Pam's girls," he said, shyly. "They'll need some sweetness to get through the next few days and it's the least I can do."

"Thank you," she replied, sincerely. "I'll make sure that they get them." She stood up and hugged him again, but before she could sit back down, an elderly gentleman approached her.

"Nurse Gladstone, I heard about Nurse Tanner, and I wanted to offer my condolences. She was a wonderful person," he said.

"Thank you, Mr. Macy," Suzie replied, hugging him. His wife was a frequent patient in the ER. "Is Mrs. Macy back in the ER?"

He shook his head. "She was admitted to the cancer ward last night. She's perking up a bit this morning. I'm just headed home to get a bit rest. Sleeping in those chairs isn't for old men like me," he said, rubbing his neck and left arm.

"I'm glad to hear it," Suzie smiled. "You have to take care of yourself if you want to take care of her."

"That's what you keep telling me," he smiled. "Anyway, I won't take up any more of your time, I just wanted to say that we will be praying for you and her family."

"Thank you," Suzie said again.

He turned to go and Suzie noticed him rubbing his arm again.

"Mr. Macy, are you okay?" She asked.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," he replied. "Just a little stiff. You have nice day."

He was about three steps out of the door when he just seemed to crumple to the ground.

Suzie closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, then muttered a word Joey was sure he had never her say before jumping to her feet and running out the door.

She fell to her knees beside the older man. "Mr. Macy? Mr. Macy, can you hear me?" She felt for a pulse, then began CPR while instructing the receptionist to call a code. Soon the small lobby was filled with medical personnel with Suzie calling out orders. Twenty minutes later, Mr. Macy was talking and headed to the ER.

"You saved that man's life," Joey said, walking over to Suzie who was still standing in the lobby.

"It's what I do," she replied with a shrug, then sobbed. "So why couldn't I do that for Pam?"

* * *

Please R and R.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: This story is AU. Abuse discussed.

* * *

1987

Suzie lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, listening to the still silence in the house. She was exhausted but couldn't sleep. She still didn't know how they had made through the past three days. Danny had wanted to have the funeral services as quickly as possible so that the girls wouldn't have to deal with all that entailed for too long. The funeral had been earlier that day and now everyone else had settled in to an exhausted, if restless, sleep.

If Suzie had gotten her way, she would be at her home in her bed, but Danny wasn't up on his feet yet, and mom needed help. After the funeral Nick and Irene hadn't been in any shape to help Claire with the kids and Jesse had left the graveside, thrown his suit jacket in Nick's car and taken off on his bike without speaking to anyone. Wendy was leaving in the wee hours of the morning for Rio, so that just left her and Joey to help out.

Danny was asleep downstairs with Claire on the couch near him. The girls were asleep in their rooms and Wendy was on the hide-a-bed in DJ's room. She and Joey were in Danny's room so they could listen out for the girls. It had been their parents' room growing up. A place the children had only been allowed to enter when they were in trouble or cleaning the bathroom. It wasn't any wonder that she didn't feel comfortable in there, even with all the changes Pam had made over the last eight years since she and Danny had been living there.

She heard Michelle whimpering. She could wait for Joey or Wendy to wake up and hear her, but they both had to be up in an hour to get Wendy to the airport for her flight. Suzie slipped out of bed and padded quietly down the hall. Michelle was sitting up in her crib, getting fussier.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Suzie said, picking her up from the crib. "What's the matter, Honey? You aren't wet. You shouldn't be hungry already," she looked into those big blue eyes. "I know. You miss your mommy, don't you?" She grabbed a blanket from the crib and sat down in the rocking chair. She cover Michelle with the blanket and rubbed her back, settling her down. She realized this was probably the first time she had voluntarily held her.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart. Aunt Suzie hasn't been very fair to you, has she? I'm so sorry," she hugged her tightly. "I do love you. I miss your mommy, too. She was my best friend and your Daddy is big brother and I think he might be the best big brother ever." Suzie looked around the room. She hadn't spent one night in the house since she'd been married and she didn't know if she'd ever really feel comfortable there. She didn't know why Danny wanted to live there either, but when she had asked him once, he'd dismissed the question saying it was just a building and that things weren't always bad there.

That was true. They'd had lots of good times, it was just that when things were bad, they were so bad, it overshadowed the good times. It was Danny that usually took the brunt of their father's temper, being the only boy and in their father's eyes, the man who should know better. However, William Tanner wasn't shy about taking his belt after his daughters or even if his wife if he felt it was necessary. The last time Suzie had come 'home' to this house was the worse that it ever got and if it hadn't been for Danny, she was fairly certain she wouldn't have made it out.

* * *

1977

Jesse still wasn't sure why he went with Pam when she asked. He didn't even know why she asked. He wasn't friends with Suzie or Joey. Pam would later tell him because it was because she knew that if he was involved, he'd feel the need to help. Whatever help they might need.

So far all it had done was make him feel guilty every time he caught a glimpse of Danny's face in the rear view mirror. He didn't want to see Suzie since Danny hadn't been the target of their Dad's anger, he only got in the way. Still, Danny had a black eye, busted lip, and bruise on his jaw.

Two hours later they were all standing at the front of a small wedding chapel. The old minister looked Suzie up and down critically.

"Did he do that?" The minister asked, pointing first to Joey then to the bruises on Suzie's face that her make up couldn't completely hide.

"No, sir," she replied.

"What about that?" he motioned to Danny. "Did you hit her?"

"No sir," Danny replied.

The minister then turned to Pam and Jesse. "Are they telling the truth?"

"Yeah," Jesse replied while Pam nodded.

"Well," the minister said. "Normally, I'd say no. This seems like the kind of wedding that brings some mad father to my door, but in this case, I think I should."

That was how Jesse came to be witness at a wedding of two people he barely knew. That was also why, three days later, when Suzie came back to school only to find out she was the main topic of conversation, Jesse ran the principal's toupee up the flag pole, giving everyone a the new topic of his possible suspension and whether he would be able to graduate.

They were sitting in English class when he was called out to the office. He gathered up his books and swaggered out to cheers. He paused for an almost imperceptible moment at Suzie's desk and winked before walking on out.

* * *

1987

Suzie was lost in thought until she heard Wendy moving around. She eased Michelle back into her bed.

"Good morning," she said, meeting Wendy in the hall.

"What are you doing up?" Wendy yawned.

"Putting Michelle back to sleep," she replied with a nod toward the nursery.

"You want some breakfast?"

"Sure," Wendy replied. "I'm going to take advantage of a hot shower one more time before I head back to work. Is Joey still going to take me to the airport or do I need to call a cab?"

"I'll take you," she replied. "He can listen out for the girls." She went back to the bedroom to throw on some clothes. Joey was sitting on the side of the bed, having just woke up. "Hey, Babe," she said.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Rocking Michelle. She wasn't sleeping well, but I think she's down for a while now," she said.

"You were?" he sounded slightly surprised.

She nodded. "We had a long talk about how Aunt Suzie hasn't been being very fair. I think she forgives me."

"I'm sure she does," he smiled. "Is Wendy ready?"

"She's taking a shower. I'll take her to the airport."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can't sleep anyway. No reason both of us should be up. Get some rest." She sat down beside him. "Listen, I was thinking. There's going to be a nurse here full time starting tomorrow, and mom is staying a while, so why don't we go home after breakfast? I want to be in my own space."

"And you'd like to not see your dad?" he asked, gently.

She paused for a second. "Is that bad?"

He shrugged. "I haven't called my Dad back in three months because I don't like his newest wife, so I'm probably not the best one to be giving advice in that area. But if you don't want to see him, we won't stick around."

"To be fair, she is a bit of a misery-guts," Suzie replied. "I wouldn't want to talk to her either."

Truth be told, Colonel Gladstone wasn't a bad guy, in fact except for his abysmal taste in women, Mindy excluded, and his utter disgust that Joey didn't enlist in the military, he was a nice guy. A bit dry and humorless, yes, but he had always been there when Joey really needed him. His newest wife, Janet, however, was only a few years older than Joey himself and seemed to think that being a step-parent to an already adult child meant criticizing everything he did from his comedy act to his teaching career to 'why you two don't have some babies for me love already'. It wasn't any mystery why Joey preferred to avoid talking to her.

She kissed him on the cheek, then quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to fix Wendy a quick meal. Twenty minutes later, she and Wendy were enduring a very quiet ride to the airport together. Suzie wasn't sure when the distance between them had begun. They had shared a room together as kids and had passed many secrets under the cover of darkness about kissing and boys, but then they had grown apart.

Well, that wasn't exactly true when Sue thought about it. They had been shoved apart, first by their dad, then by Wendy's hostile attitude.

Wendy had been thirteen when Suzie had gotten married and moved out. She was fourteen when their mom had finally left their dad and just turned fifteen when Suzie finished school and moved back to San Francisco.

Suzie had invited Wendy over for a sleepover the first night that she and Joey had moved into their apartment. Instead of the giggly thirteen year old who would make kissie faces at her, she got an angry, sullen teenager who blamed her for the dissolution of their parents marriage.

"I'll be happy to get back to work," Wendy said, breaking the silence. "Just wish I could have stuck around long enough to see Dad though."

"This is only flight to Rio for another three days," Suzie said. "Joey did his best to find you another flight, but he couldn't., at least, none that would put you back by Friday." She held back from saying that if Wendy wanted better flight times, she could have booked her own flights, or even paid for her own tickets. "Besides, he might not even show up. He didn't bother to come to the funeral."

"Probably because he knew you would be there," Wendy mumbled.

"What?" Suzie asked, sharply.

"Nothing," Wendy said. Then exhaled sharply. "You don't like dad so Danny and I can't like him either."

"It has nothing to with liking him," Suzie replied. "He's my father and I love him, but he wasn't..."

"He's not some monster," Wendy said.

"I never said he was. He has problems but I don't have to be the outlet he unleashes them on and you don't either," Suzie said.

"He wasn't that bad."

"Yeah? So what's your definition of 'that' bad?" She snapped. "Was it 'that' bad when he'd whip us so hard that we couldn't go to school until the bruises faded? What about when he punched Danny in the face? Or was it when he threw boiling hot soup off the stove at Mom because she put onions in it? Maybe it when he pushed me down the stairs knowing I was pregnant? How much worse should he have been for me to be justified in getting away from him?"

"You did get away. You left and you didn't come back," Wendy said. "Mom divorced him because you wouldn't come home until she did."

"I couldn't come home!" Suzie cried. "When Dad found out I was pregnant, he kicked me out with nothing except what I had on. He wouldn't even let me take my purse or backpack. I couldn't even go to school until Colonel Gladstone came over and made him give me my purse and books! I had no choice in leaving or in not coming back."

"Really?" Wendy was quieter.

"Yeah. And mom divorced him for her own reasons, not because of me," Suzie replied. They fell into another uneasy silence until Wendy was on the plane.

Danny was awake when she got back to the house.

"Do you need anything?" she asked.

He shook his head and whispered, "Just don't wake Mom up."

"Driving you crazy?" Suzie asked with a smile.

"Let's just say there are some things I'd rather do in private since being potty trained."

Suzie laughed quietly and sat down on the foot of his bed.

"Wendy make it off okay?" he asked.

Suzie nodded.

"How much money did you give her?" he asked. Wendy loved her job, but it didn't pay her enough to survive most of the time. Suzie and Danny had started picking up the slack for their mom years before.

"Two hundred," Suzie yawned.

"Can you afford that? With the tickets and all, too?" Danny asked.

She nodded. "Don't worry about Wendy and me. You have enough to deal with.

"Old habits," he replied.

"Danny, do you ever...," she let her voice trail off

"Ever what?" he asked.

"Do you ever worry that you'll, I don't know, slip one day and lose it the way Dad used to?" she asked. "Do you ever worry that you'll get out of control disciplining the girls?"

"Everyday. That's why we don't hit our children," he said. "I decided the first time I held DJ that I'd never touch her, or any of my children, except with love and kindness. What brought that up?"

She shrugged. "I was just thinking. You know, as badly as I want to have a baby, maybe there is a good reason that hasn't happened. I mean, what if..., if there's any of that in me, then maybe it's a good thing that some child won't be damaged by me."

"No," Danny said, firmly. "That anger, that whatever, isn't in you, Sue. If I ever thought that you capable of being that harsh, I'd never let you take care of my girls and they love Aunt Suzie. You're going to be a great mom one day and when you look down at that child, or those children, you'll just know that you could never hurt them, just like I do every time I look at my children."

"Thanks. Get some sleep," Suzie said, standing up. "Or I'll have to wake Mom up." She hugged him before going back upstairs.

* * *

Please R and R.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: This story is AU. In my version, CJ doesn't exist and Steve has 2 daughters with his ex-wife.

* * *

1987

When they got home, Suzie went to bed for hours. The sun was setting when she finally woke up. She found Joey on the sofa grading papers. She sat down beside him.

"Cliff's notes claims another victim," he said, tossing a paper on to the coffee table as she joined him.

"You're marking off for your students using cliff's notes when you and Danny used to take turns reading the books then writing two papers?"

"I'm the teacher now," he replied. "And at least one of us read the actual book." He sat the rest of the papers on the table. "Want me to fix dinner?"

She shook her head. "Are you planning on going back to work tomorrow?"

"Thought I would. If I'm gone more than three days, Mrs. Freemont starts re-appropriating my chairs and desks to her room," he said. "When are you working again?"

"My next shift is Friday night and I'm not volunteering for any before then," she said. "Could you take off just one more day? Or will the vultures pick you clean?"

"I don't know, it'd have to be a good reason, by the fourth day they start swooping in. He has chalk, look a stapler," he said the last part in a hiss, imitating a vulture.

Suzie laughed. "Well, I'll buy you a new stapler if they attack. I need you tomorrow."

"What's up?"

She smiled. "I'm pregnant. I thought you might go with me to the doctor tomorrow to see if everything is good.

"Really? That's fantastic! Absolutely, I'll go," he hugged her. "They can have the stapler. They can even have the desks. This is great, Suzie Q. How long have you known?"

"Since Saturday," she said. "Pam made me take a test because, well, you know how she couldn't stand to not know something."

He kissed her again.

* * *

2016

Suzie was sitting at her conference, absent-mindedly checking her phone when she heard a deep voice over her shoulder.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up and smiled brightly. "Steve! It's yours now. I didn't know they invited podiatrists to this conference. I'll have to talk to someone about that," she teased. She stood up to hug him.

"This coming from a nurse," he grinned.

"Nurse Practitioner," she replied. "How have you been?"

"Good, good," he said, taking the seat beside her. "How is the Gladstone crew? I saw Savvy the other day at the hospital when I was rounding. I can't believe she is old enough to be working on a doctorate and she's doing two at once."

"Yeah," Suzie nodded. "She wants to do occupational and physical therapy because she spent so much time in therapy herself, she wants to give back."

"She'll be great. Remember when I hurt my knee playing football?" Steve asked.

Suzie nodded. Of course she remembered. That was the injury that had ended any hope of Steve playing professional sports and put him on the road to being a doctor himself.

"I was at therapy once and her speech therapist was letting her play at one end of the gym I was in. I remember I was working on weight bearing up and down steps and I was not having a good day. I was frustrated, tired, in pain, and I snapped at my therapist. Then I shoved the set of steps away from me and I was done. I hobbled over to a chair and just fell down in it. Then Savvy came running over to me before her therapist could catch her. She signs my name then said, 'Like this.' And she climbed the steps. She came back down and she held her hand out for me to climb them with her. It just hit me like a ton of bricks, you know. Here was this baby who had to struggle to talk and walk, and all the things I took for granted and she was still smiling. Here I was, mad because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to wrestle in a few months. So, I got up and climbed the steps with her. We get back down and she says, 'Good job. Now we get cookies.' That was a turning point for me in therapy and I was able to wrestle that year and get my scholarship."

Suzie smiled. "How are your girls?" Steve had custody of his two daughters from his first marriage.

He sighed. "Well, my sixteen year old is sixteen, and my six year old wants to be sixteen."

"Two tough years," she laughed. "Try four and twenty-four."

"DJ told me you were adopting. That's fantastic," he said. "When do we get to meet them?"

"Hopefully everything will be final and legal by Thanksgiving," she said. "They're a handful though, so I don't know if we'll be able to come even if we get the adoption finalized. I think they scarred DJ's boys for life when Danny brought them out to Vegas this past summer."

"Aw. I hope you do come," Steve replied. "DJ invited my girls and I for dinner. I love to meet the new Gladstones."

"How's that going is the real question," Suzie said.

"What?"

"You and DJ," she laughed. "Don't play dumb with me."

"She doesn't want anything serious and I'm pretty sure she has a crush on Matt, and I'm trying really hard to be patient about those things," he said, honestly.

"Well, I know it's not what you want to hear, but just keep giving her time and space and it'll eventually work out," she said.

"You think so?" He asked.

"I hope so," she shrugged. "But then I am kind of partial to high school loves. After all, I've been married to mine for almost forty years now."

* * *

1987

Six weeks had passed since Suzie had told Joey about the baby. In that time, she'd had two doctor's appointments where the doctor had told them that both Suzie and the baby were healthy. Things had gotten better for them. Suzie was spending less time at work and they were spending more time together, even if most of was over at Danny's helping out with the girls. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of Suzie and she was becoming her old self again.

Joey was in his classroom giving a lecture about the Great Gatsby when the intercom crackled to life.

"Mr. Gladstone, you have a phone call in the office," a tinny voice said.

"Take a message, please. I'll call them back during my planning hour," he responded, thinking it was just a student's parent calling.

"It's about your wife," the receptionist replied. "She fainted at work."

Joey was out of the room so fast, he forgot to even put anyone in charge. When he got to the hospital, Suzie was laying on a gurney, looking small and pale. One look at her face and he knew what had happened.

"Oh, Suzie Q, is there anything that can be done?" he asked, sitting sown beside her and kissing her forehead.

She shook her head.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetheart."

"Yeah. Me too." She looked away.

There was something in her voice. A tone, imperceptible to those who didn't know Suzie as well as he did, that worried him. It was the same tone she used to adopt when talking about her dad or the not so happy parts of her childhood. He took a deep breath and spoke up.

"Sue, please, please don't shut down again. I love you. Please don't shut me out. I want to help you," he said.

Suzie didn't respond. She just turned her head away from him and pretended to sleep.

* * *

Please R and R.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU. In this version, the garage was always renovated and the second set of steps leads to an outside door. From here on, some events and scenes will have happened in the show.

* * *

1987

"So, how is Suzie holding up?" Danny asked Joey as they sat at a diner waiting on Suzie to join them for lunch.

Joey shrugged. "I don't know. She won't talk to me. She won't talk to anyone. Whenever I bring it up, she says she's fine, that there is no point in talking about things that can't be changed and rushes out the door to the hospital, or to go running, or just away." He let the 'from me' stay silent. Danny had enough to deal with. It had only been about three months since Pam's death and while he was healing from the accident, he wasn't healing from the loss. The only reason he knew about the pregnancy was that he was Suzie's second emergency contact and the hospital had called him when Joey wasn't immediately reachable.

"You know how she is," Danny replied. "She keeps everything in. She always has. Stephanie's just like her. I've been taking her and DJ to a grief counselor. DJ talks. Stephanie draws pictures."

"And you?" Joey asked, gently.

"I just try to keep it all together," Danny said. "Mom helps and mom is part of the problem. Last night, DJ stayed over at the Gibblers' until well after dark and I had to walk over and get her. When I tried to send her to her room, Mom says, 'She was just next door. She's been through so much, don't punish her.' Stephanie bit a kid in her preschool class and Mom chewed the teacher out for putting her in time out. The teacher apologized! So now, the girls think they can run wild and Grandma will save them. My mom has to go."

"I agree," Suzie said, joining them. She hugged Danny and kissed Joey before sitting down. "Mom has got to go. She called me six times at work last night to see if I thought it was safe for you to go back to work already. I told her that she had already interrogated Tom, his nurses, his Physician's assistant, and the parking attendant. She didn't really need my opinion."

"Tom?" Joey questioned.

"Dr. McCarty. The orthopedist that did Danny's surgery," Suzie explained.

"We've met," Joey replied a little more sarcastically than he intended.

"Well, I'm glad you agree that Mom needs to go back to Seattle," Danny said, either not hearing, or more likely, ignoring Joey's tone. "Because I'm going to need your help for that to happen. When she leaves, I'm going to need some help with the girls. I mean, DJ and Stephanie are in school most of the day, but that'll only last another month. I've looked into daycare for Michelle and a few of them will take older kids in the summer, but Stephanie's already having such a hard time and I don't really want to leave her with strangers right now."

"Well, I'll be off this summer. I can help out," Joey volunteered.

"Me too," Suzie said. "I'll help out as much as I can."

"That's great, but that still leaves the problem of Sports at 10 and 11 pm.," Danny said.

"Just what are you getting at, Danny?" Suzie questioned suspiciously.

"Well, I was thinking, and feel free to say no, but maybe, you two could possibly, maybe, move in with us for few months? Just until I get things sorted out," Danny replied.

"Wow," Suzie said.

"Danny...," Joey started to protest.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but it would really mean a lot to me if I didn't have to leave the girls with strangers just yet. You could take the rec room. It has a private bathroom and an outside entrance," Danny said in a rush.

"I'm well aware of the features of the rec room, Daniel," Suzie laughed. "I lived there. I lived there when it was still a garage, remember?" Their dad had closed in the garage decades before to make first a play room where all their toys were kept, then a rec room where they could watch TV and bring friends over. Pam had changed it in to a guest room when they moved in.

"Right," he said, sheepishly. "Well?"

Suzie and Joey looked at each other for a long moment as if silently discussing the proposal. Finally Suzie shrugged. It couldn't be any worse than their current situation. She motioned towards Danny.

"We'd be happy to," Joey said.

"Really?" Danny said, relieved.

"Our lease is running out anyway," Suzie replied. "Living with you can't be that bad. Besides if it gets Mom back in Seattle, it'll be worth it."

"This is great," Danny replied, letting out the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. "This is, just.., Thanks guys, really."

* * *

1987

It was moving day. Jesse had said he was going to come around breakfast, but it was almost lunch time and he hadn't shown up. Suzie had called a few minutes earlier to say she was on her way to take their mom to the airport, with Joey bring some of their stuff over later. Danny was trying to get the girls to say goodbye to Grandma while convincing them that she couldn't stay.

"You know, Danny, I could stay just a few more weeks," Claire said, after DJ and Stephanie had clung to her instead of saying goodbye.

"Mom," Danny replied with a hint of warning to his voice. "You've help me out ever since Pamela died, but now its time for you to get back to your life and for us too. Besides, I'm getting help."

"What? Pam's brother and Suzie and Joey? Jesse is a single man who has never taking care of children and Suzie and Joey should be trying starting their own family instead of moving in to help you with yours."

"Mom, not a word about that to Suzie," Danny said. "You know that it isn't from a lack of trying."

Claire nodded and sighed, "Well the fact that she seems to spend her every waking moment at her work doesn't help things."

"Just stay out of it, Mom. Arguing with her won't help anyone," Danny said.

"I won't say anything," Claire surrendered, holding up her hands. "It's not like she'll take my advice anyway."

"Good," Danny said as the doorbell rang.

"Ready to go?" Suzie asked as DJ let her in. She was dressed in scrubs.

"Are you working today?" Danny asked. "What about moving?"

Suzie shrugged. "I got called in. It's just a few hours after I drop mom off. We've already put most of our stuff in storage and Joe can handle the furniture and boxes we're bringing here."

"I thought we could all have a family dinner tonight," Danny replied. "Our first night together and all."

"I'll be back by dinner," she said. "Come on, Mom. Planes don't wait."

After another round of tearful goodbyes, Suzie and Claire were on their way to the airport and Jesse arrived with a bang and not very child-friendly story about a dancer.

Joey came in a few minutes later with his arms full of what he first said was dirty clothes, watching Danny drop them and jump back as if he was contaminated before laughing and saying, "Relax, Danny, they're clean. The box ripped."

"Not funny," Danny groaned.

Despite her assurances, Suzie didn't make it home for dinner. She didn't get home till after midnight. She walked into what looked liked a party going on. Jesse's band was set up. Both DJ and Stephanie were still up and Danny was glaring at Joey and Jesse as though they had lost DJ again, or whatever it was that Stephanie had tried to tell her when she called home to say she would be late. After assessing the situation she took DJ and Stephanie by the hand.

"I'll just take the junior Laker Girls upstairs and wash the purple out of their hair," she said, leading them upstairs.

"Aw, do we have to, Aunt Suzie?" Stephanie whined. "I like it."

"Yes. There'll be plenty of time to dye your hair purple when your a teen," Suzie replied.

By the time she had the girls cleaned up and back in bed, she found Joey, Danny, and Jesse talking in the kitchen.

"Is there any dinner left?" she asked.

"Yeah, the girls saved you a couple of slices of pizza," Danny said.

"Cold pizza, my favorite," she replied very unenthusiastically.

"It was hot six hours ago when you said that you would be home," Joey said.

"Well, excuse me," Suzie snapped. "I guess I should have just told the patients to have their heart attacks and get shot tomorrow because I have to be home for dinner."

"Have I told you all how grateful I am that you agreed to move in?" Danny asked, interrupting them.

"About a million times," Jesse said. "We've told you we are happy to do it."

"Yeah," Sue and Joey agreed.

"Quit worrying about it," Joey added.

Jesse yawned and stretched his arms. "Okay, I guess I'm going to sleep and hope the pink bunnies don't attack me in my sleep."

"Just don't look them in the eye or feed them after midnight," Joey quipped.

"Right," Jesse smirked.

"I think I'm going to bed too," Suzie said, dropping her pizza crust in the trash. She went downstairs, happy to see that though their furniture and boxes were all a jumbled in the front of the room, Joey had set their bed up. They could deal with unpacking in the morning. She dug through some of the boxes to find her pajamas before getting in the shower.

Joey was already in bed when she got out of the shower. She slipped into the bed beside him. After a few moments of silence, Joey finally spoke.

"This is weird," he said. "I keep expecting Wendy to pop up from wherever she's hiding to spy on us."

"And run tell mom that we're touching," Suzie laughed. "We're in bed together. Her head probably would have exploded with that to report."

"Especially since your mom wouldn't let me stay after eleven thirty once we started dating," he said. "Danny had to start sleeping over at my house which I always found funny because by the time we started dating, there was only a fifty/fifty chance that either one of my parents was actually there."

"I once asked her exactly what did she think we would do after eleven thirty that couldn't do before," Suzie said. "She didn't have an answer but I wasn't allowed to see you for like a week."

"Well, it's after eleven thirty now," he replied, suggestively.

"That's true. We could find out just what's so bad after midnight," she said, moving closer and kissing him.

* * *

Please R and R.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU. From here on, some of the chapters will either include or refer some of the scenes in the show.=

* * *

2016

"I'll get it," Stephanie said, running to the door. She open the door to see Savannah Gladstone standing on the door step. "Hey Savvy, you don't have to knock," she said, hugging her younger cousin.

"Last time I just barged in Kimmy was bleaching her mustache in the living room. No one should have to see that," Savvy replied, signing Kimmy and mustache. "Is mom back yet?"

"She said to expect her around five," she said. "You staying for dinner?"

"I was going to take mom out," Savvy said.

"Boo. Stay. I'm cooking spaghetti and I only know how to cook enough for two or for an army. No in-between. Besides, we can visit with you too," Stephanie tried to persuade the young woman.

"Well, maybe. It'll depend on what mom wants to do," Savvy said. "I did promise to take her to La Bella Gardens."

"By which you mean that she's going to take you to La Bella Gardens," Stephanie grinned.

Savvy shrugged. "Being an intern doesn't pay much," she said. "The struggle is real."

"Please. Your Daddy's pays for your apartment, your Jeep, your insurance, and your cell phone," Stephanie countered. "Talk to me about struggle when you're using seven credit cards to buy breakfast and you still can't get the bear claw."

"You're living in your dad's house," Savannah countered. "Face it, Steph. We're both brats."

."We are," Stephanie laughed. "I haven't seen you in so long. You have to come by more often. I've only seen you twice since I moved back."

"I'm sorry. Work is killer right now," Savvy said.

"Yeah, right," Stephanie replied. "You forget we are Facebook friends. You could hang out with me on one of those nights you're checking in at the White Horse Bar. Or you could at least invite me to hang out with you. Why are you going to country bar anyway? We're a rock and roll family."

"Well, there's a band that plays there that has a really cute lead singer," Savvy smiled.

"Really? Tell me more," Stephanie said as she started to preparing supper.

"Well, they call themselves the 'California Cowboys' and they're actually pretty good," Savvy said.

"Not the band, the guy," Stephanie clarified with a smirk.

Savvy flushed bright red. "Well, he's kind of tall and he has this amazing smile that just seems to light up his whole face. I don't know. I'll shut up."

"Have you met him?" Stephanie asked.

Savvy nodded. "I know him. It's weird though. For the longest time I just thought he was pest but then he did the sweetest thing and I kind of like him now."

"Are you going to go out with him?"

"It's complicated," Savvy said.

"What's complicated? Just ask him out," Stephanie advised.

"Maybe."

"Well, for the most important question," Stephanie said, chopping tomatoes. "Does he have a brother?"

"Um.., actually, he does," Savvy said. She looked up at the doorway. "Mom!" She hopped off her stool and ran to hug Suzie.

"Hey, Sweetie," Suzie said, hugging her daughter tightly. "What are you two talking about?"

"Some really cute singer Savvy likes," Stephanie said.

"Stephanie!" Savvy cried.

"What?" Stephanie shrugged. "You're twenty-four, I'm pretty sure she knows you date now."

"Does this singer have a name?" Suzie asked.

"Of course, but I'm not telling. You people can't keep secrets for anything," Savannah protested.

"Of course we can," Suzie replied. "Just not Stephanie, Michelle, or Jesse. I can keep secrets well. I kept you a secret for five and half months."

"That's true. She didn't even tell Uncle Joey," Stephanie said.

"You weren't showing by then?" Savvy asked.

"Well, it was the 90's. All I wore was baby doll dresses and tights. For work I threw on a lab coat, It wasn't hard to hide," Suzie explained. "Not to mention, Becky had just been like nine hundred months pregnant with twins, so by comparison, I wasn't big at all."

"I'm going to tell her you said that," Stephanie warned.

"That's how she puts it," Suzie laughed.

"That's all you wear now, Mom," Savvy replied.

"I wear tunics now. Totally different, not nearly as flowing or forgiving. Speaking of which, I'll go change so we can go to dinner," she said. "Call Daddy by the way."

"I just texted him," Savvy said.

"I know. I was talking to him. He read it, said it didn't make any sense and for you to call him. Something about your cell phone bill," Suzie replied.

"I might have went over my data. By quite a bit, actually. I fell asleep with Netflix running and didn't realize I wasn't on wifi," Savvy admitted. "Okay, I'll go call him." She walked into the living room.

"Why don't you two have dinner with us?" Stephanie asked. "I'm cooking enough spaghetti here to feed the entire Tanner clan and you can tell us some more about when you first moved in here. Savvy said it was up to you."

"Sure," Suzie shrugged. "You know what I was thinking about today? Do you remember when your grandmas almost moved in?"

"Yeah, cause we'd trashed the house," Stephanie laughed. "We were eating out of pots with wooden spoons. It seemed like you'd worked like, that whole week."

"I had. I worked seven straight eighteen hour shifts and had even slept in my office a few times. I was so exhausted when I got home that morning even Jesse's turtle story didn't faze me."

"I forgot we got Bubba that morning," Stephanie smiled. "I hated that Uncle Jesse gave him to the zoo."

* * *

1987

Suzie had worked for what felt like a week straight. She arrived home at the same time as a very enthusiastic Jesse.

"Good morning, Suzie Q," he grinned, jumping off his motorcycle and falling into step with her.

"Hey, Jesse. Were you out all night?"

He nodded. "But it's not what you think. I spent the last night at a twenty-four hour veterinarian making sure I didn't hurt this little guy when I nearly ran him over." He showed her a turtle he had in a bag.

"You know Danny is never going to let you keep a turtle in his house," Suzie said, rubbing it's head. "I mean, maybe if it was one that would fit in a fish bowl but not Godzilla here."

"Hey! His name is Bubba. I'm going to find a zoo to take him or something," Jesse said. "I just have to take care of him till then. This little guy saved my life."

"How's that?" Suzie snickered.

"Tell you in a minute. Here, hold Bubba," he said, handing her the bag and getting his key out to let them in the back door.

Joey and Danny were in kitchen.

"Hey, guys, you'll never believe where I was last night," Jesse said, taking Bubba, bag and all from Suzie.

Danny started to complain about the laundry, but Jesse interrupted him with a story about how Bubba saved him from a runaway street cleaner.

"Fascinating," Suzie yawned. She stepped around Danny to kiss Joey. "If no one else was snatched from the jaws of death by a sea creature, I'm going to bed."

"No sea creatures," Joey replied. "Though the Gibbler's cat was being pretty ferocious to that tabby two blocks over."

"Has to be a sea creature," Suzie joked.

"When are you getting up?" Joey asked.

"Well, I'm off work until Tuesday, so Monday night?" She teased, yawning again. "How about five? I'll go to the club with you tonight, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, that's perfect," he agreed, eagerly. She hadn't been out with him since Pam's death. "We can grab some dinner first."

"Sounds good. See you at five," she said, kissing him again before going downstairs.

After what seemed like no time to Suzie, the lights in the room were thrown on.

Suzie squinted and looked at the clock. It was only one p.m. She sat up.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked. She knew they wouldn't wake her up early unless something was wrong.

"Have you seen the state of this house?" Claire asked.

"Mom? What? No. What are you doing here?" Suzie was confused.

"I came by to see how everyone was doing. It doesn't look good," Claire said.

"What are you talking about? Everything is fine."

"Have you seen the rest of the house? It's a mess. Pam would be horrified," Claire said.

"No, Mom. I've worked eighteen hours everyday this week. I'm exhausted. This room is clean and as long as the rest of the house isn't crashing in on this bed, I'm going back to sleep," Suzie said.

"Suzanna, this is serious. When you moved in here, I expected you to help Danny."

"I have," Sue said. "We all have. The girls are clean, fed, and cared for. This week has been hectic. We're doing the best we can and the girls aren't being mistreated. What more do you want? The girls aren't going to get sick and die because they have to wash a dish on their own. Geez!"

"I can't talk to you when you're like this," Claire said, turning and walking out.

Normally Suzie would have went after her and apologized but this time she was just too tired. Besides, it was the truth. The adults had all had their own things going on, and while juggling everything around to accommodate the girls schedules and their own, the housework had gotten left out of the deal. Also, DJ was ten and Stephanie was five, both old enough to be able to do some light housekeeping after themselves. Suzie had been washing dishes by hand, and scrubbing the bathroom floors by the time she was ten. An hour or so later, she felt, more than heard, someone standing over her. She opened her eyes to see Stephanie standing beside the bed, looking very sad.

"Stephanie? Honey, what's wrong?" She asked sitting up and reaching for the little girl.

"We lost Bubba," she confessed. "Can I look for him in here?"

"Well, sure, Sweetie, but don't get your hopes up, the door has been shut all morning," Suzie said.

"That's what Uncle Joey said," Stephanie said "But he isn't anywhere else. He might have crawled under the door."

Stephanie looked so hopeful, it got Suzie to her feet. "Here, I'll help you look."

After twenty minutes or so, Suzie was finally able to convince Stephanie that Bubba hadn't managed to crawl under the door. She took Stephanie's hand and led her into the living room where everyone else was just giving up the search as well.

Danny confirmed that they hadn't found the turtle, picking her up and setting her on the sofa next to DJ.

"One question. Did the house look like this when I went to sleep?" Suzie said, looking around.

"Well, the furniture wasn't out of place," Danny replied with a shrug.

"Okay. Second question. Is Mom here or was that a nightmare?"

"She's here," Joey confirmed.

"And she invited our moms," Jesse interrupted.

"Uh-huh. Just how long was I asleep?" She questioned looking around again.

Danny shot her a annoyed look. "Can we?" He motioned towards where the girls were clearly awaiting a lecture.

She held her hands up in surrender and sat down on Joey's knee. Just as the girls were offering to buy Jesse a new turtle their moms came in. They looked around the room with shocked looks, murmuring about the state of the house.

"Give us a minute," Danny said calmly.

The guys explained that they weren't mad over Bubba's disappearance and the girls ran over for hugs.

"I didn't really know the turtle but you know I'm always here for you," Suzie said, hugging both girls tightly.

"Me too," Danny said, holding out his arms.

The moms were a chorus of 'awes' by this point.

Jesse was standing up and shaking as if to shake off his feelings.

That's when CLaire dropped the moving in bomb.

"Living here?!" Suzie exclaimed, jumping to her feet as well. "No, no, no."

Danny pleaded for another chance, and the guys mananged to convine their moms to give them another chance.

It was quickly agreed that the grandma's would get the girls out of the house so they could clean.

"But first, Grandma has to tinkle," Irene said, heading towards the downstairs bathroom.

"Oh, I'm right behind you," Mindy said, following Irene.

"I'll just go help the girls get ready," Claire said, taking them upstairs.

"Hey, Sue, why don't you go with them and make sure the girls don't talk mom into buying them a giraffe, or worse," Danny suggested.

"Yeah. You didn't make this mess," Joey said. "Go enjoy some time with the girls."

"And you're sure the three of you can clean this house?" she asked. "Because if they're moving in, then I'm moving out."

"Well, if you want to do the bathrooms really quick...," Jesse shrugged.

"I'd love too, but unfortunately, I'm going to the zoo," she replied with a smirk.

* * *

Please R and R.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU. In this version, The Return of Grandma and Sea Cruise happens before the first day of school.

* * *

1987

Sue was having a great time at the zoo despite her earlier misgivings. It was nice to be able to just relax and enjoy time with the girls. She was sitting on a bench, cradling Michelle who had fallen asleep in her carrier while DJ and Stephanie pointed out the sights in the monkey enclosure to their grandmas. Stephanie was proudly showing off the knowledge she'd gained from the book Wendy had sent her a few weeks earlier. She had really begun to shake off the depression that had enveloped her after Pam's death and was started to be more like her old chatterbox self since they had all moved in.

DJ's bouts of sadness came and went, unlike Stephanie's which was always lingering, but they were also much more intense when they did strike. Thankfully, they too were becoming much less frequent in the last weeks. That would make school a lot easier in the fall. DJ had taken to claiming she had a stomachache through the last months of her fourth grade year to miss school, especially on special days, since Pam had been her room mother and had always been there to help on field trips and fun days. Danny had been concerned, but after the fourth trip to the pediatrician had turned up no stomach issues, Suzie suggested that Danny just give DJ the option to stay home those days. She was a straight A student, so missing a day or so in the last month, wasn't going to hurt her. Surprisingly, her doctor and counselor agreed. So during her class field trip to a dairy farm, Danny took her to work with him, then a movie and while everyone else in her class was enjoying field day, Suzie took DJ on a shopping spree at the mall. DJ's stomach problems had quickly cleared up.

Suzie was lost in thought, watching the girls, when Irene sat down beside her.

"Well doesn't she look content?" Irene said, stroking Michelle's hair. "Do you need a break from carrying her?"

Suzie shook her head. "She's not heavy in this wrap."

"Pam loved having her babies close," Irene said. "Personally, it looks like it would make your back hurt to me."

"Surprisingly, no," Suzie said. "At least not yet." She kissed Michelle's head.

"You're good with the girls," Irene observed. "And you'll be good for them. You know, when Jesse came home and told me that Danny wanted him and you and Joey to move in, I thought he had lost it. I mean, you two I could understand. At least you've taken care of them before. But Jesse?" She shook her head. "He was really good at playing with them, singing Elvis, and chasing them around, but he'd never kept them. He'd never even changed a diaper or fed them. Not to mention, I was little insulted that Danny didn't want my help. They're my granddaughters after all. Nick and I would walk through fire for those girls. I helped Jesse pack up his apartment and I was mad the day he moved in. But Danny was right. Those girls don't need Nick and I or Claire and Mindy being their parent. They need us to be grandparents. They need you guys to raise them." She shrugged. "You guys are doing a good job. You could definitely use a maid service, but the girls are loved and cared for and that's all that matters."

Suzie smiled. "Thanks."

"So know that we've gotten that out of the way, how are you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Irene replied. "This is a big change. You've given up your home. You've lost your privacy. You've lost your best friend, and..," Irene paused as if she was weighing her next words. "I dare say you've lost something else." She placed her hand over Suzie stomach.

"How did you know?" Suzie asked, looking down at her feet.

"I just had a feeling last time we were together," Irene replied. She put her arm around Suzie shoulder and gave her a small hug. "Did I ever tell you that I lost a baby between Pam and Jesse?"

Suzie shook her head.

"I did. A little girl, or I've always believed it was a little girl. We didn't have the technology to know those things back then. I wanted to try again right away. Nick, he was a little more reserved. He thought I should take some time, Pam wasn't even a year old yet, but I couldn't see that. All I could see was two little girls playing dolls, wearing matching dresses, and sharing secrets in their bedroom at night as they grew. Well, it didn't happen that month. Or the next, or the next. It was killing me. I became obsessed with getting pregnant. I started reading everything I could. Trying every scientific method they had come out with and every wives' tale I had ever heard. It finally came to a head when Nick just finally refused to 'participate' anymore unless I calmed down. He said I had taken all the fun out of it," she laughed. "Needless to say, I didn't calm down. I just got better at hiding it and I still wasn't pregnant. Then my dad got sick and he went down so fast that I didn't have time to think. I was helping mom take care of him, taking care of things at my house, Nick's business had just taken off, and with both of us so busy, Pam had become super clingy and difficult, it was a crazy time. I barely even saw Nick but I apparently saw him just enough. A week after my dad passed, I found out that I was pregnant. I had been so busy, that I hadn't even been thinking about getting pregnant, but there I was with little Hermes on the way."

Suzie snickered. "I forgot that was Jesse's name." She had started first grade sitting next Hermes Katsopolis.

"Well, I named him after my father, but he came home from his first day of school and begged me to change it. I refused at first, so he just started calling himself Jesse and refused to answer to Hermes. Nick and I finally gave in and made it legal. Anyway, my point is that when all you can focus on is one thing, you might miss other great things happening," Irene said.

"What are you getting at?" she questioned.

"Well, they may not be yours, but these girls will need a strong mother figure in their lives and I know that if Pam can't be there, then she would want you to be there to help them," Irene said. "I'm not meaning to belittle your pain or struggle, it just that, if you can allow it, this could be an opportunity for both you and the girls to have a little bit of what you're missing so badly."

Suzie smiled and hugged the older lady. "Thank you, Mrs. Irene. I needed to hear that."

"Any time," Irene said, squeezing her tightly. "Besides, I think that one day you will be a mother and great one. And I'll have more grand kids to spoil. Speaking of which, the girls are headed to the gift shop. We'd better catch up. I can't let anyone out spoil me."

* * *

1987

The guys had actually managed to get the house in shape, much to everyone's amazement. Okay, so they did hire a maid, but no one had said they had to do it all themselves. After assuring the grandmas that they were definitely needed around as grandmas, the women declared that they were going to start that night. They said that Jesse, Joey, Suzie, and Danny were all in desperate need of some alone time so they were going to rope Nick into watching Michelle and take Stephanie and DJ out for a night full of Grandma fun, starting with a movie and ending with them spending the night at a local hotel that was attached to a water park, giving the adults of the house twenty-four uninterrupted hours of child free time.

Jesse, who was supposed to be on baby duty that night, didn't even wait to change clothes. He kissed the girls, grabbed his jacket and took off on his bike. Joey was already committed to performing at the Laugh Machine, but then they were going to drive up the coast and stay at a little Bed and Breakfast they liked.

That was until they saw Danny. He packed the girls up and sent them off with the grandma trio and now was at a loss for what to do.

He was sitting on the sofa, absentmindedly flipping through channels when Suzie and Joey started to leave.

"We can't leave him just sitting here," Suzie whispered to Joey as he helped her with her coat. "I just realized this is the first time he's been alone since Pam died."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "Hey, I have an idea," he said louder. "Danny, why don't you come with us and when my set is done, we'll drive down to Monterrey and eat at that little pizza place on the coast, like we used to."

"You want to go to Papadakis Pizzas?" Danny questioned, getting excited for the first time in months.

"Sure," Joey shrugged. "We'll make a night of it. We can drive down, eat, maybe spend some time at the beach, then stop at the Redlight diner for breakfast, and get home with just enough time for a quick nap before the girls get back. It'll be fun. We haven't done that since Stephanie was born." That had been their favorite weekend activity when they were broke college students but loading up two kids or finding a babysitter in the middle of night was way too complicated just eat greasy pizza, drink some beer on the beach, before downing an enormous stack of pancakes and bacon. But first Danny and Joey, then the four of them, had some great times and deep talks over a large Papadakis Pepperoni and a six pack.

"Nah," Danny deflected. "You two had plans to spend the night away together."

"Well, Danny, I don't know if this has escaped your notice for the last nine and half years, but we're married. We don't have to go away to spend the night together anymore," Joey joked. "Come on."

"Yeah," Suzie said. "You can deflect all the guys that materialize whenever a woman is sitting alone in a club for me."

"Well, if you're sure?" Danny hedged.

"Yes! Now, get dressed before we change our minds," Joey replied. Danny was up the stairs before they had time to take off their coats.

An hour later, Danny and Suzie were sitting at table, sipping their drinks, waiting for Joey's set.

"Sue?" A voice said from behind them. "Suzanna? Is that you?"

Suzie turned around to see Dr. McCarty seating at another table a few feet away.

"Hey, Tom," she smiled.

He took that as an invitation and quickly joined them at their table.

"Daniel," he said, shaking Danny's hand warmly. "How's the leg?"

"Good," Danny answered, not quiet as warmly. If Tom noticed, he didn't react and turned his attention to Suzie.

"So what are you doing here? I didn't think they let you out of the ER long enough for a night out," he teased.

"Got out on good behavior," she shot back with a laugh. "My husband's performing tonight. I'm here to watch."

"Gladstone. Right. I saw his name on the marquee but didn't put two and two together," Tom said. "I thought you said he was an English teacher, though."

"He is, but he does this too," Suzie explained.

"I see," Tom said, shifting his chair closer to Suzie's. "Can I get you another drink?"

Before she could answer he had already signaled the waitress.

"So, what do you think of the merger with Health corp?" Tom asked about rumor going around the hospital, leaning closer and putting an arm across Suzie's seat on the pretense of being heard over the intermission music while the stage was changed from a music set to open mic for comedy acts. "Do you think it will have much effect in the ER?"

Danny watched them quietly as they talked. Suzie noticed that her usually extroverted brother was being unusually quiet, but she just chocked it up to it being that the last time he was here was with Pam, but the usually unobservant Danny was taking more notes on the couple than he usually would have. He was grateful to the doctor for fixing his leg, but something about the man was just wholly unlikable, even at Danny's post-surgery visits he hadn't liked him. He saw that Tom had now covered one of Suzie's hands with his own and the strange way he was sitting was making Suzie lean over to be heard. Suddenly something about their posture clicked in Danny's mind, but surely not. Dr. McCarty was a grown man, surely he wasn't still playing tricks most guys learned at twelve and stopped at fifteen. Danny looked around the room and up near the stage, he caught sight of Joey and could tell that Joey was seeing the same thing. Before he could speak, Bruce, the club's emcee jumped up on the stage and started into his break routine.

"Well, I'd better get back to my table," Tom said, standing up. He gave Suzie sort of half a hug and air kissed beside her cheek. "I'll see you around the hospital this week. Maybe we can grab lunch one day." He walked back to his table.

Danny wasted no time letting his feelings be known. "Sue, that man is slime."

"What?" She laughed. "Danny, he saved your leg."

"And I'm eternally grateful. He's a good doctor, but that doesn't mean he isn't pond scum."

"Why do you say that?" she asked, still thinking he was joking.

"Sue, you're here with your husband, which you clearly told him and he was still trying to hit on you," Danny explained.

"No, he wasn't," Sue dismissed. "He's just a friendly guy."

"He was holding your hand," Danny countered.

"That's just how he is. I guess it's his bedside manner," she replied. "He does that to everyone."

"I've been his patient. He didn't hold my hand," Danny said.

"Did you want him to?" Sue joked.

"He was looking down your shirt," Danny blurted out finally.

"What?! You're crazy," she laughed.

"I'm serious. The way he sitting, so that you had to lean over to hear him, every guy learns that trick in junior high. And most of us are decent enough to stop by the time we're in high school," Danny explained.

Sue was quiet for a moment before waving off Danny's theory. "Whatever, let's just watch Joey," she said, turning back towards the stage.

* * *

Please R and R.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: Obviously this story is AU. In this version, The Return of Grandma happens before the first day of school.

* * *

1987

It was three weeks until school was set to start back when Joey got the call to meet his principal. He went, thinking that it was going to be something as simple as that he was changing classrooms. He wasn't ready for what he was told.

Joey came in, threw his jacket on the back of a chair, sat down in the chair, and put his head down on the table. He still couldn't believe it. Maybe being a teacher wasn't his dream job but he was good at it and he did enjoy working in the classroom with the kids, it was just all the after school work that he didn't care for. Still he got it done. He just wasn't expecting this. It was like he'd been punched in the gut.

"Bad day, Man?" Jesse asked from over by the stove. He had taken half the day off to watch the girls for Joey.

Joey shrugged. "Not my best day," he replied.

"Want to talk?" Jesse offered, not sure if he really wanted to hear what it would take to make the usually upbeat guy so down.

He hesitated. He should talk to Suzie first, he knew that he should but she wouldn't be home for another hour and this just wasn't news that should be shared over the phone and maybe talking it out with a neutral person would help before talking to Suzie.

"I lost my job today," he said, finally.

"Wow. Why?" Jesse asked.

Joey shrugged again. "Redistricting. It's no one's fault they just combined Bayview and Hillside high schools. The English Lit teacher at Hillside has more time in than me."

"So?"

"It goes by seniority and someone has to go," Joey explained. "She has twenty years in. I just wish they hadn't waited all summer to tell me."

"Waited all summer to tell you what?" Danny said, picking up the end of their conversation as he came in the back door.

"Joey was redistricted," Jesse replied.

Joey shot him an annoyed look. He really didn't want the whole house to know before Suzie did.

"Really? That stinks," Danny said. "Where are you going?"

"No where," Joey replied, knowing Danny wouldn't let it go. "There is not any openings in the district for an English teacher, though my principal did offer to talk to a friend of his in San Diego about a job in his district."

"That's eight hours away," Danny said. "You can't move to San Diego."

"Uncle Joey's moving?" Stephanie exclaimed as she and DJ came in from the living room. "No!" Before waiting for an answer, she ran up the back stairs.

"Great," Joey replied. "Now everyone knows, except Sue. The one person who should know."

"You haven't told her?" Danny asked.

"Haven't seen her and calling the hospital is always a waste of time," he said. "Besides, 'Hey, Honey, I got fired today' isn't really a good phone conversation."

"What are you going to do?" DJ asked.

"I guess I'll go to some of the other districts nearby and try to find another job," Joey replied.

"So you're not going to move?" she asked again.

"Well, that's not a decision I can make by myself," he explained. "Aunt Suzie has a good job here and she may not want to move."

"You can't move," DJ said. "We love having you here."

"Yeah," Jesse said. "It's all going to work out. Don't you worry."

"In fact," Danny broke in, choosing his words carefully. "This might just be an answer to our daycare problem."

"How's that?"

"Well, you know the two decent daycare facilities we've found that will take Michelle both have a two month waiting period. I was going to just work weekends the first month and Jesse was going to take off the second month but if you could be home, she wouldn't have to go to daycare. You were already going to watch them after school."

"Yeah, but that's not a job," Joey said. "I need to work and help out."

"That would be helping out," Danny insisted. "You know I'm not really excited about putting Michelle in daycare."

"And you'd have more time for your comedy," Jesse said, sitting down with them. "In fact, this sounds pretty good. Why don't you go to work with my dad and I'll stay home with the girls?"

Joey laughed, despite his misgivings. "I'm sure your dad might have something to say about that." He looked at Danny. "Well, I'll have to talk it over with Suzie, but if you're sure, I'll think about it."

"Alright," Jesse said with enthusiasm. "That's settled, now let's set the table."

Joey seemed to perk up as they got ready for supper. He wanted to talk to Suzie and he planned on still looking for a new job, but the fact that he wouldn't have to take the job in San Diego was a relief. In that relief, he hadn't thought that Stephanie, who didn't hear the whole of the conversation, would see Suzie before he did.

Suzie was just taking off her jacket when Stephanie came flying down the stairs to her.

"Aunt Suzie! Please don't leave!" She hugged Suzie's legs. "Don't move. I don't want anyone else to leave."

"Stephanie, what are you talking about?" Suzie said, peeling her off her legs so she could move and shut the door.

"Uncle Joey said you were going to move to San Diego," Stephanie explained.

"He did?" Suzie asked. "And why is that?"

Stephanie shrugged.

"Come on," Suzie said, picking her up. She walked into the kitchen with at tight smile on her face. She set Stephanie down. "Joe, can I speak to you downstairs?"

"Okay," he replied, hesitantly. Suzie followed him down to their room.

As soon as she shut the door she turned to him. "What on earth is Stephanie talking about? We're moving to San Diego? Do I get any say in this?"

"Sue, sit down," he said, sitting on the sofa and patting the seat beside him. "We need to talk."

"You think?" she snapped, sitting down in the chair across from him. "Now what is going on?"

Joey sighed. "I lost my job."

"What?"

"The redistricting rumor was apparently true," he said. "Mr. Samson called me to the school today to tell me that not only are Hillside and Bayview combining, their English Lit teacher has more time in than me, and she wants the job."

"Oh, Sweetie," she said. She moved to sit beside him and hugged him. She felt bad for her attitude. "I'm sorry. But why does Stephanie think we're going to move?"

"She overheard me telling Danny that Mr. Samson offered to call a friend of his in San Diego about job down there," he explained. "She didn't stick around long enough to hear me say that I don't want to do that and wouldn't make that decision without you."

"Sorry, Babe," she said, putting her head on his shoulder. "I shouldn't have snapped. It's been a long day and I just wasn't expecting to have a sobbing Stephanie attach herself to my leg before I could even shut the door."

"I thought Danny was going to talk to her," Joey said.

"So, what are we going to do now? We're not moving to San Diego, are we?"

"I don't want to," he said. "I'm going to try a few local school districts and if all else fails, I'll stay here, keep watching Michelle and the girls for a while and keep trying to find something closer to home. Like L.A."

Suzie laughed, "Because seven hours is so much better than eight." She squeezed his leg. "Don't worry, Babe. Whatever happens, we will be fine."

Joey visibly relaxed, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Hey, so what did the doctor have to say?" He asked, remembering that she'd had an appointment with a specialty obstetrician.

It was her turn to sigh. It hadn't been great news, but she couldn't tell him now. Not right now, anyway. She shrugged, "Same old thing. You're healthy. You're young. It'll happen when it happens, blah, blah, blah."

"Well, I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but its not the worst news," he said. "And if it hasn't happened by the time we're ready to move out of here, maybe it'll be time to talk about adoption again. There are a lot of great kids out there who just need the right parents."

* * *

Please R and R.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while. Some of thescenes from the episode. Those belong to their writers.

A/N: This is AU. Also, I remembered Roxanna's back up singers as being teens/early twenties, so in my version they are. In this story, Jesse is only two or three years younger than Danny and Joey like shown in Pal Joey.

* * *

1987

The next few weeks passed uneventfully. Joey hadn't been able to find a job in commuting distance, but he had some hope for one after Christmas, and he was enjoying being home with Michelle. What he wasn't enjoying was that Suzie had somehow returned to the way she was before they had moved in. She was working crazy hours and when she wasn't working, she would run the girls here and there, or just running herself into exhaustion every evening. He knew it had to do with her visit to the OB but the more he pushed her to talk to him, the more she pushed him away.

Michelle had started walking, and DJ and Stephanie had started back to school and back to their Honey Bee troop. That's how they came to be spending the night away from home. It was the annual Honey Bee camp out. Mindy step in insisting that she loved to camp, which was a surprise to Joey who had never seen his mom stay anywhere that didn't have room service, much less out in the forest, and with Irene and Nick asking to take Michelle to see Nick's brothers in Orange County, the adults of the house, once again had the night off.

Joey had hoped to surprise Suzie with a night out and maybe being able to get her to talk to him finally. That hope was dashed, though, when she came in the living room wearing her scrubs.

"I thought you were off tonight?" he asked.

"Karen's daughter is sick," Suzie said. "I can't get anyone to take her place so I have to go in."

"Are you sure you can't find anyone else?" he asked.

"Pretty sure," she nodded.

"Oh, well, I thought we could take advantage of the girls being gone," he said.

"Well, if I don't cover the shift, I'll lose my job," she snapped.

"Fine. Have a good night," he replied, not wanting to argue.

"I'll see you in the morning," she said, picked up her jacket and bag, kissed the girls, and left for work.

In whirlwind, the girls were out the door and the house was silent. After enjoying the silence for a few moments, Danny wondered how they should spend the evening. Jesse was pushing for Tahoe, catching a show, and picking up some girls.

"Married," Joey said, holding his left hand up to show his ring.

"Right," Jesse said, as if just remembering. "Okay, you just watch the show, Danny and I will talk to the Marilyns."

Danny, on the other hand, wanted to have a guys night out and do some 'male bonding'. Whatever that meant.

"I don't want to bond," Jesse said. "You?" He looked at Joey.

"Not with you," he replied.

Jesse immediately start back into plans for Tahoe when Danny started actually backing away from them and shaking his head. He looked almost panicked.

He finally explained that he still wasn't over Pam, but wished the other two a fun night.

"Never mind," Jesse said, dropping his jacket. He acted bummed, but now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how he would have felt if Danny had been up for a night with a show girl anyway. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but he was starting the thinking of Danny and Joey as his friends instead of just his brother-in-law and roommate.

"We're available for bonding," Joey said. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll do whatever you want," Jesse promised.

"Girls will be the farthest thing from your mind," Danny promised. He was already on his feet and headed to the kitchen.

"I hope he knows it's going to take a lot to make up for no girls," Jesse cracked.

"You know, if you wanted to bail, I'll go bond. It wasn't like I was looking for a date anyway," Joey offered good naturedly.

"Nah," Jesse shrugged. "I'm in. As annoying as he can be, the guy is still hopelessly in love with my sister. I can't be mad about that. I mean, he was married to a Katsopolis. There's no topping that. Poor guy."

* * *

1987

Suzie was sitting at her desk, working on paperwork and trying not to doze off. It had been a long night and not one she had been prepared for. She picked up the phone and called home.

No answer. She put the phone back on the cradle. She wondered where the guys had gone. She could guess that Danny and Joey were probably out somewhere together. They hadn't had much guy time since Pam's death.

Sue put her arms on her desk and laid her head down for a minute when there was a knock at the door. She looked up to see Dr. McCarty standing in the doorway.

"Hey," she smiled. "What are you doing here this time of night?"

"The motorcycle accident. The kid's dad is a good friend of mine. I came up to see how bad the break was," he said. "He'll need surgery but he'll have to sober up a bit first. I was on my way out and thought I'd stop by and say hi. You want to grab a cup of coffee in the cafeteria? You look like you could use it."

"Sure. Just let me tell the Clerk where I'll be," Suzie agreed.

A few minutes later, they were seated in the cafeteria.

"So, why is a great nurse like you still working nights in the hospital?" Tom asked. "You could get a job in any Dr.'s office and have better hours."

She shrugged. "I like what I do. I like the variety of patients I see. I like helping people. And I don't like many doctors that much," she grinned.

"Well, then, I'm honored you like me then," he said.

"Or I just like coffee," she said.

"Ouch," Tom laughed.

Before he could say anything else, her pager went off.

"Duty calls," she said, standing up. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Anytime," he said as she walked away.

* * *

1987

Fishing. That was Danny's big plans for the evening. Joey hadn't been fishing since he was a kid. The Colonel had taken him a few times. He'd never really got the hang of it, but it shouldn't be so bad. That was until Jesse's rock star ex-girlfriend showed up with her two back up singers and somehow Danny's fishing trip turned into the yacht party Jesse had been bragging about. Well, as much as you could imagine the Neptune's Bride to be a yacht. Jesse was falling all over Roxanna and Danny was steadfastly ignoring all the women except the captain Caroline, that left Joey to try to entertain the two back up singers, Vega and Yvonne. It wasn't hard, actually, since the young girls, still new to the rock star party scene, drank two bottle of champagne nearly single handed. After that, all he had to do was tell a few dumb jokes and keep them from falling overboard when they got seasick.

Fortunately, the sea air, plus puking up most of the alcohol, had done them some good and by the time the boat was in open waters, they were a little more steady on their feet and were actually able to fish.

After fishing Danny out of the bay, the group headed home for some breakfast and dry clothes. When Yvonne and Vega announced that they were headed back to their hotel, Joey walked them to the door.

"You know," Yvonne said, sliding her arm through his. "We've definitely had enough champagne for that menage' you mentioned earlier."

Vega giggled and grabbed his other arm, pulling him towards the door.

He stopped short, remembering the earlier joke. He held his hands up. "Listen, ladies," he said. "I'm flattered, really, but I'm married."

"So are lot's of guys," Yvonne smiled, biting her lip and twisted back and forth on her heels.

Joey looked at the two women and could easily see that beneath all the make up, they weren't much older than the high school girls he used to teach and Yvonne was definitely not the first teenage girl who thought that look would make him change his mind. In fact, it had only ever worked for one girl and she rarely looked at him at all anymore and never like that. He patted her hand.

"No, thank you. I'm not just some married guy. My wife is everything to me and as flattered as I am, nothing is worth hurting her, so this is where our evening ends, unless you need more pepto," he said.

"Okay," she said. Yvonne hugged him before heading out the door.

"We've met a lot of men since we've been on the road with Roxanna," Vega said. "As you can probably tell, Yvonne doesn't get told no a lot and wedding rings usually aren't a deterrent. What you said about your wife is really sweet. Thanks for reminding me that there are still nice guys out there." She kissed him on the cheek and left.

Joey turned around to see that he was about to be intruding on a private moment between Jesse and Roxanna, so he edged his way around the living room towards the kitchen. Without meaning to, he overheard Jesse blow up at Roxanna for asking him to come with her. He tried to tiptoe into the kitchen, but there he found Danny frantically trying to turn Caroline away. Back in the living room, Jesse was practically throwing Roxanna out.

He quickly stopped everything, pulling Danny and Jesse into the kitchen and imploring the women to stay.

Danny and Jesse were understandably mad and basically told him to butt out but he wouldn't let it go. He finally got Jesse to admit that he was jealous and Danny to admit that he was scred.

"No," he said defiantly, then softened and changed his tune. "Maybe. I don't know. Okay. I do know. I put her band together, but she's the big star. I put my band together and we're playing dives. I promised myself that I was going to have a recording contract by the time I was twenty-five. I'm twenty-seven now. When's it going to be my turn?"

He sympathized with Jesse about how hard breaking into show business was and got him to agree to give Roxanna another shot before turning to Danny and convining him to just talk to Caroline. He was sure she would understand that Danny wasn't ready for a romantic relationship and would be a good friend.

Jesse asked why he was telling them all this while couching it in a joke.

Joey answered honestly but then crackeda joke about cartoons when he realized the mood was getting too heavy.

Jesse laughed, but Danny didn't let him off the hook that easily.

"No," Danny said. "That's not it. What's really going on?"

It was Joey's turn to look uncomfortable. He stared down at his shoes. "It just bothers me to see you to throwing away great relationships when my wife is working herself to death to avoid being with me."

"She's still struggling?" Danny asked.

"I can't bring her back this time," he admitted, nervously twisting his wedding ring around his finger. "I don't think she even wants me to."

For once neither man offered up advice or a happy platitude. After a long moment, Danny hugged him. Then Jesse first held out his hand but changed his mind and pulled him into a hug.

Then Danny laughed about them bonding after all and went to talk to Caroline.

"Hey, Joe?" Jesse stopped before he went to talk to Roxanna.

"Yeah?"

"Just remember that Sue loves you. Just hang in there with that too and she'll come around," Jesse said.

"Thanks. I hope you're right," Joey nodded, but he didn't sound convinced.

* * *

Please leave a comment!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while. Some of the scenes from the show.

A/N: This is AU.

* * *

2016

"Hey, Kimmy, I noticed that your old house is for sell again," Suzie said. "Are your parents still in Florida?"

"Yeah. I don't think it'll sell though. The last tenants really messed it up," Kimmy said.

"They painted all the walls taupe."

"Not taupe," Stephanie said in a mock horrified voice.

"Yeah and they took out all the cool furniture," Kimmy said.

"How are your sisters and Garth?" Suzie asked.

"They're good. A little strange but good. Amy is a CPA and Garth is a software developer. Can you imagine?" Kimmy said.

The dynamics of the Gibbler household had always been a little different. When Garth and Jocelyn Gibbler had moved in to the house next back in 1968, they had called themselves Sage and Moonbeam. Then they had Amy who they called Rain, Emily, who was called Sunshine, Lilly, who was just Lilly, and Garth, Jr., or Wolf. Years later they were surprised with Kimmy and then her younger brother, Jimmy. They had moved in when Suzie was eight. By the time she was twelve, she was keeping the girls on Wednesday evenings and most of the day on Saturday. By the time she was fifteen, she was staying over most weekends from Friday evening to Sunday mornings to baby sit all four kids. She wasn't sure what they did when Kimmy and Jimmy were young and she had moved away. She knew that the Gibblers weren't any more attentive to their two younger children than they had been to their older children by the time she moved back into 1882 Girard Street.

* * *

1987

Joey was home early for a Saturday. He had gone to the Laugh Machine and did the early show. Bruce had offered him a spot in the prime show, but he just wasn't feeling it tonight. He thought he might come home and have a drink with Danny in the backyard instead. Sue had left for work at noon, so he was rightfully shocked when he opened the door to see she was laying on the sofa, watching a movie.

"Hey, Sweetheart," he said, hanging up his jacket. "Is everything okay?"

She sat up and smiled. She seemed genuinely happy to see him. She nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. Karen just came in on the wrong night and since she needed the hours, I let her have the shift. I was feeling a little burnt out anyway. I guess it was a good thing because Danny had gotten called in for the weekend sports guy. So now I'm babysitting the girls and Kimmy Gibbler." She hugged him when he sat down beside her. "Kimmy's mom brought her stuff over for a sleep-over after Danny left. Wouldn't you know that five minutes before Kimmy was supposed to go home, her parents suddenly have to go out of town and need us to keep her overnight? What I want to know is when did Moonbeam become super yuppie 'Call me Jocelyn?'"

Joey laughed. "Yeah, those sudden trips out of town happen a lot. Pretty much anytime Danny says the girls can't have a sleepover."

"I'm not surprised. Don't you remember when my Friday night babysitting job would last from Friday after school until Sunday before church and half the time I had to take them to church with me and feed them lunch before Moonbeam and Sage were rejuvenated enough to be parents again? At least they didn't care if I invited my boyfriend over."

"They didn't?" Joey asked, feigning shock.

"I forgot to tell you that?" she joked. "Must have been a different boyfriend."

"I think you were over there every weekend," Joey said.

"Moonbeam needed her rest," Suzie said. "She actually told me once that my dating you was inconvenient for her and if I couldn't be reliable then she would have to find someone else. I think she really thought I would choose babysitting for her over going out with you. Come to think of it, maybe super yuppie was always in her. I told her to find someone new. That's when it suddenly became okay for you to come over. She asked me if I still do babysitting."

He laughed again. "What did you tell her?"

"Yes, but now I charge two hundred and twenty dollars a night instead of twenty dollars a weekend. I think she considered it for a moment," she replied.

"Well, as long as she lets you invite your boyfriend over," he said.

She nodded as if considering it. "If he doesn't want to come over, do you want to come over instead?" she grinned.

"Come here," he snickered, pulling her close and putting his arms around her. "I thought I was the comedian in this house."

She shrugged and smirked. She curled up in his lap and relaxed against him. "Do you remember what we used to do all those nights at the Gibblers?"

"Yes. You know, maybe that wasn't such a bad job after all," he replied before kissing her.

"Whoa, DJ, major make out action happening in your living room," Kimmy squealed from the balcony.

"Yep, I'm definitely babysitting for the Gibblers," Suzie sighed. She called up the stairs, "Go to bed, Girls!"

"Yes, ma'am," came the reply.

She looked back at Joey, "Now, where were we?"

* * *

1987

It was Danny's big night. His first national broadcast and Suzie had to work. Of course, they had just found out yesterday that he was going to get to fill in for the color man who had the flu just in time for the big heavyweight fight. She had already taken a long lunch and ran the girls to mall so they could get Danny a good luck gift. DJ had chosen a very nice tie, but Stephanie, after being shown just about every tie tack in the store, chose some paper mache supplies so that she could make him a tie tack.

Sue grabbed quickly grabbed her supper from the cafeteria and went to the break room to hopefully catch a few minutes of Danny's interview before business picked back up again.

"So were you a bad girl this week?" Dr. McCarty took a seat beside her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Last time I saw you on a Saturday night, you said you had been sprung for good behavior," he said. "You're here, so I have to assume you weren't good this week."

"Oh, at the Laugh Machine," she replied, smiling. "Yeah. I didn't turn in my charts or something."

"Bad girl," he laughed. "So what are you doing in here?"

That was a valid question. She usually took her breaks in her office, making schedules and such.

"Danny is announcing for the big boxing match. I was just hoping to catch a few minutes of the interview," she replied.

"Awesome," he said. "Good for Danny. When is he on?"

"After these commercials," she said.

"Mind if I watch with you? I can't say many of my patients are on TV yet," he replied.

She shrugged and turned up the volume.

The phone at the nurses' station rang. Karen grabbed it. "ER admissions, how can I help you?"

"Hey, this is Joey Gladstone, I need to speak with Suzie."

"Joey, hey, it's Karen," she said. "Did you try her office?"

"Yeah, it rang through to you," he said.

"Well, she's on break. I don't know exactly where she is if she isn't in her office," she replied, watching Suzie and Tom through the break room window. They were laughing. "Listen, she's probably just down in the cafeteria. I'll tell her to call you when she gets back on the floor."

"Tell her Michelle is sick, okay? Jesse and I are wondering if we should take her to the doctor or what," he replied.

"Will do," Karen said.

"Thanks."

"No problem," she said, then returned to phone to its cradle. She went to the break room. "Hey, Suzie, Joey called you."

"Okay, I'll call him," she said.

"He said Michelle is sick," Karen said.

"Oh, I've got to call home," she said to Tom getting to her feet. "I'll talk to you later." She left the room.

"Hey, Karen. Have a seat," Tom said, pushing out the chair Suzie had been sitting in.

She sat down. "You've been hanging around the ER a lot lately," she said. "You know that's never going to happen, right?" She motioned towards Suzie at the desk.

"Why's that?"

"She's been with her husband since we were in high school," Karen said. "They got married like two minutes after she graduated. It was even a rumored that she was pregnant. She's crazy about him. She'd have to be, to stay married to that goofball."

"She doesn't look all that crazy," he said.

"You should leave her alone," Karen said.

"Jealous?" he smirked.

"Look, Suzie is a nice person. She doesn't play the kind of games you play," Karen said. "And she's naive enough to not realize that you are just playing with her. She's got enough going on in her life right now. She doesn't need you screwing with her head and messing up her marriage."

"I don't want to mess up her marriage," he said. "I just want to be her friend."

"Yeah, like you've ever been any woman's friend," Karen scoffed, getting to her feet. "Just leave her alone," she spat before walking out of the room.

"Hey, Babe," Suzie said when Joey answered the phone. "Karen said you called. What's up?"

"Hey, Michelle's coughing," he said. "I think she might be getting sick."

"What kind of cough?"

"What do mean?" he asked sounding confused.

Suzie had to stifle laughter as both he and Jesse describe Michelle's symptoms to her. Finally she interrupted to ask, "Does she have a fever?"

"What?" Jesse asked.

"Do you know how to check her temperature?"

"Of course," he replied and started to explain.

"No," Suzie interrupted. "Wrong end." She explained it to him.

She had to stifle her laughter again.

"Here." His voice had gone up an octave. She could almost see him shoving the phone at Joey. "Your wife has lost her mind."

She held in her giggles as she managed to talk them through the process.

"Okay, she doesn't have a fever, so it's just a cold," she said. "She should have some medicine in the cabinet. Give her that and I'll take her to her pediatrician tomorrow."

"Just give her the medicine?" Joey asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. It's just going around," Suzie said. "Just keep her hydrated, cool, and calm. I'll be home as soon as I can. I have to see Danny."

"You saw the interview, I take it?"

"Yeah, I caught the interview. That was so bad," she laughed.

"It was," he agreed.

"I'll see you at home," she said.

"I love you," he said, causing Jesse to make gagging noises.

"Love you, too," she replied before hanging up.

"Everything okay?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, she has a cold," Suzie said. "They're nervous parents," she laughed.

"Jesse Katsopolis as a parent." Karen shook her head. "You have to invite me over to see that someday."

Suzie got home from work just in time to see the guys sharing some hot chocolate.

"You guys are certainly a wild crowd," she joked.

"We aren't talking to you," Jesse replied.

"Poor fellas," she cooed, ruffling his hair. "Had to take a baby's temperature."

"Go away before I sneeze on you," he warned.

"Aw, you don't want to hear what I've been exposed to in the last 12 hours. You think a little sneeze is going to scare me?" she grinned. She pulled a bottle from her pocket. "Here. Peace offering."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Cough syrup. I stopped by the hospital pharmacy and picked it up for you two. I figured Michelle wouldn't be the only one sick in the morning," she said.

"Bless you," Jesse said, grabbing his bottle.

"I'll take Michelle to the doctor in the morning," she told Danny.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll probably be getting fired."

"It wasn't that bad," she said, kindly.

"You didn't see him say there was no one to blame," Joey said.

"That was so bad, it was great," Danny laughed.

When Joey sneezed again, Suzie help out her hand. "Come on, Sweetie. Let's get you to bed," she said.

"How come you get a personal nurse?" Jesse teased.

"I paid her student loans," Joey replied. "And you know, she loves me."

"Mainly because of the loan thing, though," Suzie joked. "See you in the morning."

* * *

Please R and R.

A/N:

So, this story will soon wrap up. Would anyone want to see more from these characters? Either in the form of short stories from the end of this story to Fuller House, a story of them having Savannah, or a story about Nicky and Alex and Savvy in the Fuller House time?


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Bros. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

A/N: This is AU.

* * *

1987

It was Suzie's day off. It was a bright Wednesday morning. Everyone was over the cold that everyone but she had eventually succumbed to. First Michelle, then Jesse and Joey, then DJ, Stephanie, and finally Danny who had to take off from work due to laryngitis. Suzie had shined during those two weeks. She had cooked meals, served juice, felt foreheads, and passed out medicine and treatments. She had trouped the girls to the doctor, DJ twice as her cold had developed into bronchitis. It had just been cold, but she had thrown herself into caring for everyone. She had gone to work, but she hadn't stayed late or volunteered for overtime and she hadn't gone running even once. For the first time since they had moved in, she had acted like she was really a part of the household, instead of just an observer. Oh, sure, she had helped before, but it was always more as a babysitter or a housekeeper, instead of part of team that Danny, Jesse, and Joey had somehow become.

Joey watched her carefully as everyone got better. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew that it was just a matter of time before she would float away again. He didn't know what, but he knew that something would remind her, something would push the pain she tried so hard to fight, forward. He didn't dare try to talk to her about it, not wanting to be the thing that pushed her away again. He was just going to try to enjoy having her back.

"What are your plans for today?" He asked, moving around their room, getting dressed so he could cook breakfast for the girls before school.

She shrugged. "None, I guess."

"Why don't you sleep in?" he asked, pulling the blankets back up around her shoulders. "Then you can go to the supermarket with Michelle and I after breakfast."

She smiled. "Can't sleep in. I told Stephanie I would fix her hair. Apparently Jesse couldn't find a barrette yesterday and used a chip clip in her hair."

"In his defense, it did match her outfit perfectly," he joked.

"It got stuck to a filing cabinet," she laughed.

"I did tell him he should use one that wasn't magnetic," he replied.

"Those girls are going to need so much therapy," she said, shaking her head. "I'm going to hop in shower. Send Stephanie down to get her hair done when she comes to breakfast."

When she came upstairs, Joey had fixed the girls' lunches, cooked breakfast for them, and was quizzing DJ on her multiplication facts. Danny had left for work early and Jesse was standing in front of the coffee pot, staring at it as if his mere presence would make it work faster.

"You can't intimidate the coffee into dripping faster," she said, slipping between him and the bar to get a soda from the fridge.

"Better than drinking that swill," Jesse replied, pointing to her bottle of Dr. Pepper.

"Caffeine is caffeine," she replied, looking for a bottle opener. "And mine is ready now."

"If you can open it," Jesse said watching her fumble through the drawer.

Joey took the bottle from her, retrieved the bottle opener from the top of the fridge. "It's the new Bennie," he replied, pouring the soda over a glass of ice. "Had to put it out of Michelle's reach." He handed her the glass.

"Thank you," she smiled before kissing him. He was getting good at this Mr. Mom job.

"Why does Aunt Suzie get soda for breakfast?" Stephanie whined.

"Because she's an adult with bad nutrition habits. That's why she didn't grow over five feet," Jesse replied. "You don't want to be like her, do you?" He only meant the bad nutrition habits but Stephanie took him at his words.

"Yes," she replied. Aunt Suzie was a nurse like Mommy had been. She helped people. And she got to wear make up and pretty clothes. She was also married to Uncle Joey who was so funny. Stephanie could honestly say from a five year old perspective that being like Aunt Suzie would be great. "I wouldn't mind."

Suzie smiled at the little girl. "Thank you, Sweetheart, but drink your juice so you can grow up tall like your dad." She kissed the top of her head.

"That's the bus," DJ announced, jumping up from her seat. "Come on, Stephanie."

In a whirlwind, everyone was out the door, leave Suzie and Joey with Michelle and messy kitchen.

"I'll wash these dishes. You take Michelle up and get her ready to go out. Pack her bag and we can go to the park, out to lunch, make a day of it, if you want," Joey said. "We don't have to be back until DJ and Stephanie get home."

It was a good day. They had taken Michelle to the park for most of the morning, then ate lunch at the wharf while Michelle dozed in her car seat. Everything had been great. When Suzie's pager blared its tones during lunch, she'd just turned it off and tossed it back in her purse.

"You don't need to call them back?" he asked.

"Nope," she shrugged. "Not my call day and I'd rather spend it with you." She reached out to hold his hand.

Then they got to the supermarket and a few words from a well meaning stranger changed things. Suzie had the list and was practically dancing through the aisles, placing items in the cart. Joey was pushing the cart and making faces and voices for Michelle who was getting a little fussy.

"Dada," Michelle said, reaching for him.

"No, Joey," he corrected her. Michelle's habit of calling Jesse and Joey 'Dada' was still a sore spot with Danny, even though they had discovered it wasn't because of the time he was or wasn't spending with the girls, but that Michelle called all men 'Dada', including Nick, Danny's boss, and even the paperboy. It really only bothered Danny when it was Jesse or Joey so both of them tried to correct her whenever possible.

"Dada," she insisted, lifting her arms again.

"Joey," he said, lifting her out of the cart, before tossing her up in the air, and kissing her neck, causing her to giggle. "Joey, Joey, Joey!"

"EEE," she cooed.

"Close enough," he said, tickling her.

Suzie had stepped away from them up the aisle. She looked back and smiled at them.

"Such a good daddy."

She looked to her left to see an elderly lady watching them too. "Oh, um.., yeah," Suzie said, caught off guard and not wanting to explain their life to some random woman in the supermarket.

"I see them in here all the time," the lady continued. "He's so calm and patient with her. His wife is a lucky woman. My husband wouldn't even change a diaper much less do the shopping with a baby in tow."

"Oh," Suzie said, wondering why the woman couldn't see that she was his wife. She looked down at her hands. Oh yeah. She had forgotten her wedding rings again. She didn't wear them to work, due to the number of times she washed her hands in a shift. Unfortunately, that also meant that it was really easy to forget to put it on when she wasn't working. She looked at Joey again, then at her own reflection in the store's windows. Of course they didn't look like they went together. He was relaxed and easygoing. He seemed to not have a care as he tossed Michelle into the air and blew kisses on her tummy, causing her to squeal with laughter. Suzie on the other hand, looked pale and drawn. She seemed nervous and skittish, like she might bolt at any minute.

"But I guess that's how it is now-a-days with the career women who don't have time to cook or shop or even care for their kids," the woman continued. "The husbands must have to step in to get things done." She shook her head sadly, as though all the world's problems came down to working mothers and men doing the shopping.

"Yes, well, I'm his wife and that's our niece, but thanks," Suzie snapped. She walked back to Joey and dumped all three packs of cookies she was holding into the cart.

"Three?" Joey questioned.

"This is why you shouldn't take me shopping," she replied.

He laughed. "I knew there was a reason."

It wasn't until they were home, the groceries put away, and Michelle down for her afternoon nap that Joey noticed something was wrong. He came downstairs from putting Michelle in her crib to see Suzie lacing up her running shoes. She was dressed in running pants with an old hockey jersery of his over them. Her hair was pulled back in a bun and her headphones and player were on the table. This wasn't going to be a short walk around the block.

"Going for a run?" he asked, keeping his tone light and inquistorail.

She nodded. "Thought I would."

"How long will you be gone?"

She shrugged. "Haven't really thought about it."

"Wait until Jesse gets home and I'll go with you," he proposed.

"You hate running," she replied.

"True," he agreed. "But I like skating. I'll skate, you run, we'll be together."

That was true. He was always asking her if she would go skating with him. She wasn't very good at inline skates, though, so rarely agreed.

She considered it for a moment then shook her head. "Look, Babe. No offense, but I really just need some alone time, okay?" She meant to sound apologetic but it sounded accusatory even to her own ears.

He crossed the room to where she sat at the table and sat down beside her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"Come on, Suzie Q, talk to me," he said quietly. He took her hands in his. "If something is bothering you, you can tell me. I'm big boy. I can take it."

She was still for a moment, then pulled her hands from his grasp. "Nothing is wrong," she insisted. "I just wanted to get some exercise. Is that so wrong?" She stood up and started to walk out off the room.

Joey figured this was the only shot he was going to get so he pushed. "It is if you're really just wanting to run away again. What did that specialist doctor tell you?"

She stopped short and spun around on her heal. "I told you."

He shook his head. "You told me something but you didn't tell me the truth."

She stared at him. How did he know? "I told you what was relevant."

"What did he tell you?" he asked again. "What words did he say?"

She was frozen. He deserved to hear it, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words. She couldn't admit it to herself more than she couldn't say it to him. She looked panicked like a trapped animal. She opened her mouth, then closed it. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. One beat, two, three. She tried again. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Joey got up and walked over to her, but didn't dare touch her. He knew her well enough to know that if he did, she would run away for sure. The first time he'd seen her like this was not long after they started dating and he pushed her to tell him about the finger shaped bruises on her arm. He'd tried hugged her then and she'd left him sitting in the school parking lot and hadn't spoke to him for three days. He was afraid of how long she would disappear for if he tried to comfort her now. He looked down at her. "What did he say?"

She looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "Fine," she spat out. "You want to know? He said that there was a less than ten percent chance that I will ever be able to carry a baby to term and that its time we consider alternatives because I won't survive another miscarriage like the last one. If I hadn't already been at the hospital last time, I would have bled out before I could have gotten there." The tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

He reached to hug her, but then another thought occurred to him that made him feel sick. He stepped back and held her at arm's length. "Suzie, how could you not tell me this?!" he demanded. "We've been..., you could be pregnant right now!"

"So?"

"So?!" He blew up. "How can you say 'so'? You could die! I won't be a part of this. I won't help you kill yourself!"

"I want a baby," she said, wiping her eyes.

"And I want you," he said. "You being here, being healthy, that's more important than us having a child."

"That's easy for you to say," she shot back. "You're not the one who is fai..., you're not the one who can't.., you're not the one who is broken!"

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours but was really just a few minutes. The back door opening tore their attention from each other.

Jesse was in the process of ushering Stephanie and Harry into the kitchen and pulling off their coats when he caught sight of Joey's enraged look and Suzie's tear-stained face and realized they were intruding. He immediately began shoving the kids back into their coats. "You know what, it's such a pretty day, we should play outside," he said, turning the kids around.

"Don't bother," Suzie said, wiping her face with her sleeve. "I'm leaving." She took off through the living room.

Joey watched her go for a moment then looked down. "Can you watch the kids for a little while?" he asked Jesse.

"Sure, whatever," Jesse agreed. He had never seen this side of Joey and wasn't sure he like it. "You need..., you need someone to talk to?" he offered, hesitantly.

"No," he declined quickly. "I just need some time to think." He went down to his room.

That night, Joey moved into the alcove.

* * *

Please R and R.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Full House is property of Warner Brothers.

A/N: This is AU.

* * *

1987

Suzie was sitting at her desk, but she couldn't keep her mind on her work. She knew she need to talk to Joey, but she couldn't find the words. He had never been so angry with her. She'd never seen him so angry at anyone.

"Hey, you look like you're deep in thought."

She looked up and smiled. "Hey, Tom. Come in."

He walked over and sat down in front of her desk. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She shook her head. "I think I need a new career."

"What? No way. You're a great nurse," he said.

She scoffed. She hadn't be great today. She had been distracted and absentminded. "Yeah, well, you know. The hours. I was just thinking that maybe I should find something a little more..., predictable. I mean, with us living with Danny and the girls, it might be better for everyone if Aunt Suzie doesn't get called away all the time."

In that moment, Tom saw his chance. "Well, I need a clinic nurse, if you're interested."

"Really?" she asked, skeptically.

"Yeah, I just never mentioned it to you since you seem to enjoy this job so much," he said. "My nurse quit last month to move to Montana with her new husband. I've been using temps but I'd love have someone who isn't fresh out of school to oversee things."

"I don't know," Suzie said.

"Come on," he wheedled. "You'd work weekdays eight thirty to five, and one Saturday a month to noon. I could probably pay very close to your salary here."

"I'll think about it," she said.

"Good. I'll get with my payroll people and get you some specifics," he smiled.

When he left, Suzie got back to work on the schedule when she heard another knock at the door.

"Sue, can I talk to you?" Karen Santoni was standing at her door.

"What's up?" Suzie asked, motioning to the chair in front of her. "I'm making December's schedule. Do you want any special days off? I already gave you day shift on Christmas Eve and Christmas day off since you have a kid."

Karen shook her head. "No. That's.., that's great actually. The last ER supervisor didn't care about any of that. If it was your day to work, it was your day."

"I usually work holidays since I don't have children," Suzie said. "But this year, well, we're all trying to be there for the girls. This holiday season is already hard enough."

"How was Thanksgiving?" Karen asked.

"Very..., interesting," Suzie laughed. "I learned quite a bit, like we can't cook, Jesse can't seduce women into giving him a turkey, and if your turkey is still frozen, putting it back in the oven on broil isn't the best choice."

Karen laughed.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Suzie asked, steering the conversation back on track.

Karen stalled. "Um, so what's the deal with you and Dr. McCarty?"

"My personal relationships aren't your business," Suzie said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Come on, Sue. We've been friends a long time," she replied.

"No, we haven't," Suzie countered. "We've known each other a long time. That's not the same thing as being friends. Are we even friends now? Or are you just nice because I'm your boss?"

Karen looked at her blankly for a moment before saying, "I thought we were friends. I mean, you can't still be mad at me for kissing Pete in the ninth grade. You were only dating him to make Joey jealous in the first place."

"I don't care about Pete," Suzie replied. "I've worked at this hospital for seven years now and you never even spoke to me until I became ER charge nurse and even then, it was usually to ask for days off."

"Okay, that's fair," she conceded. "Look, Pam was my friend. I want to be your friend but whatever. I am going to say something because I think Pam would want me to and you can fire me, I don't care but you are being stupid."

"What?!" Suzie was livid.

"You're being stupid. You're going to throw away something great for something you're going to regret," Karen said.

"Don't pretend to know anything about my life," Suzie said.

"You're right. I don't know your life," she replied. "But this is what I know. You got pregnant in high school. I got pregnant in high school."

Suzie looked shocked but Karen plowed on.

"Your guy loved you enough to marry you and stay with you for the last ten years. My guy? He gave me 200$ and told me to call him if I wanted to hang out when it was 'done'," she said. "And Joey is still crazy about you. He was so worried about you when you miscarried a few months ago. I haven't seen Kathy's dad since her first birthday party, when he showed up drunk and with his new girlfriend. Dr. McCarty is a lot more like Kathy's dad than he will ever be like Joey. He's hit on every woman in the ER, including Pam."

"Well, you don't have to worry yourself," Suzie said. "He hasn't been hitting on me. He's been buttering me up to come work at his clinic, or has he also offered jobs to every woman in the ER, too?"

"No," Karen admitted taken aback. "He offered you a job?"

Suzie nodded. "His nurse manager got married and moved to Montana right about the time he started being really nice to me. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"Oh," Karen got to her feet but then sat back down. "When?"

"What?" Suzie asked, confused.

"When did you get pregnant?"

Caught off guard, Suzie laughed lightly. "What? No."

"Come on, tell me. It's not like I'm holding any moral high ground here," Karen said.

"Spring break," Suzie replied. "You?"

"Prom night. Just like in some cheesy after school special," Karen said with a roll of her eyes.

"Don't feel too bad," Suzie laughed. "I would have been in the don't lie to your parents movie, if not the 'sex will ruin your life' special."

"Goodie Two-Shoes Tanner lied to her parents? Wow," she laughed.

"I told my parents I was going to stay with my friend Tori at her dad's beach cottage in Eureka. What I didn't tell them was that Tori was Joey," Suzie grinned. "Well, Tori was Victoria Adams. She told her parents she was with me and she was really with Jason Ginty."

"Jason Ginty? I think we found the person dumber than us in our senior class," Karen replied with a shake of her head.

Suzie laughed again. "Yeah. She found that out two kids later."

"I can't believe someone actually slept with him."

"At least twice," Suzie replied.

"I better get back to work," Karen said, getting up. At the door, she turned back. "Hey, Sue?"

"Yeah?"

"Just make sure you read all the fine print before you take that job. I think it might have some hidden duties," she said.

Suzie nodded then said, "Cafeteria in an hour?"

"Sure," Karen smiled.

* * *

1987

This fight went on for a week. The girls were none the wiser, but all the adults had noticed a definite chill between Joey and Suzie. They barely spoke to each other and when they did, it was polite to the point of painful.

"Are you going to talk to them?" Jesse asked Danny as they watched Suzie leave for work without saying goodbye.

"I've tried," he replied.

"And?"

"I was told to butt out. By both of them," he said.

"And you're going to let them do that? Don't you have some sage wisdom to share?" Jesse asked.

"Nope. Somehow, I haven't needed a quit being mad at your husband or wife speech yet," he replied.

"Yeah, but you were married," Jesse said.

"Pam and I never fought," he replied with a smile. "Whenever we had a disagreement, Pam would just give me that look until I agreed she was right and promised to never question her again."

"I know that look. She got that look from Mom," Jesse said, nodding his head. He was quiet for a moment before asking, "You don't think..., they..., you know, will get divorced or anything, do you?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen Joey this mad at anyone before, especially not Suzie."

"Have you ever seen them like this?" Jesse asked.

Danny shook his head. "Not that I can remember."

"We can't let them divorce," Jesse said. "I mean, think what it would do to the girls," he added, seeing Danny's questioning look.

"Yeah," Danny smirked. "What do you propose?"

"Follow my lead," he said, grabbing three beers from their hiding place in the vegetable crisper, then called up the stairs where Joey was putting Michelle back down after a diaper change. "Joe! Grab the baby monitor and meet us outside!"

"What's up?" Joey asked.

"We're having adult time," Jesse said. "Join us."

"Why?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Yeah, why Danny?" Jesse shot the question at him.

"Because..., because.., just sit down and have a drink," Danny said, holding out a beer.

"Is this another bonding thing?" Joey asked, taking a seat.

"We're just taking a break from girl world," Jesse said.

"If you say so." Joey sat back and took a long drink. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. That's why he missed the frantic pantomime between Jesse and Danny, each trying to get the other to speak up. Finally, Jesse won.

"So," Danny said, carefully. "How are things with Suzie?"

"I knew there was a catch," he replied, not bothering to look up. "It's fine."

"Then why are you sleeping in the alcove?" Jesse asked.

Joey looked at him. Danny had known, but he had thought that no one else did.

"Hey. I come home late. I see things," Jesse shrugged.

"It's none of your business," Joey said.

"You didn't let us tell you that," Jesse argued. "You really think we're going to let you get away with it?"

"Look, we just want to help," Danny interjected.

"Well, you can't," Joey said. He was quiet for a moment then said, "I'm just so fed up. She never tells me anything."

Danny started to interrupt, but Joey held up his hand cutting him off. "Don't tell that's just how she is. I know. This is different. I can handle her keeping small things to herself, but this wasn't small and I won't deal with her lying to me."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"She was told she shouldn't try to get pregnant again," he admitted. "She told me that she was told everything was fine. She was told she might not survive another loss, but she decided that I didn't need to know that. I won't be part of her hurting herself."

The other men were quiet for a long moment. This was more serious than they had thought. It wasn't as easy to fix as just giving some cliche advice.

Finally Danny spoke up. "I don't think she meant to lie to you. If she told you to truth, then she'd have to tell it to herself. She inherited mom's habit of painting the roses red."

This time it was Joey who was silent as he considered what Danny had said.

* * *

It was still dark when Suzie got home the next morning. Joey was still asleep in their room. She thought about what Karen had said as she got ready for bed. She got in bed and gently shook him. "Joey," she said, softly. "We need to talk."

Joey groaned. This was never a good way to wake up. "Okay," he said after a long moment.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You were right. I should have told you the truth."

"You should have," he agreed. "And maybe I should have been a little more understanding of why you didn't tell me." He sat up and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry too. I hate fighting with you. I know why you keep things quiet, and I don't usually mind, but just, don't lie to me, okay? You don't have to go through these things alone. I'm want to help you. I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, hugging him back. "Dr. O'Brien suggested some therapist I could talk to about this. I think that might be a good ideal. Would you.. maybe..., go with me?"

"Of course," he said, kissing her, happy that they were talking again.

* * *

Please R and R.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: This is AU.

* * *

2016

"I certainly wouldn't argue with that. I'm not looking forward to the drive," Suzie said into her phone. She had called Joey while DJ and Kimmy were getting the kids to bed and Stephanie was cleaning the dishes. He wanted to fly up to bring her home on Friday. "I've missed you so much. See if Anna and Russ can stay over with the kids and make a weekend of it," she suggested. She listened for a moment then said, "You know they won't care and if they do, we can always stay at a hotel. The kids and Savvy would love to see you and we could even give the girls a night off."

Stephanie came into the living room. "Hey, Aunt Suzie, who are you talking to? Uncle Joey? Hey, Uncle Joey," she said, leaning down beside Suzie's ear. "When are you going to come see me again?"

"Maybe Friday," Suzie said. "He wants to fly up and pick me up. I'm trying to talk him into staying for the weekend."

Stephanie took the phone. "You should totally do that," she said. "You can have my room. I'll bunk with DJ or Ramona. It's settled. I'll see you Friday." She handed the phone back to Suzie.

"I'll talk to DJ and Kimmy and text you later," Suzie said. "Poke an eye out tonight." She smiled brightly. "I love you, too, Babe." She hung up the phone.

"Does anything ever die in this family?" Stephanie asked, cringing. "Is he going to stay the weekend?"

She shrugged. "Well, we can't take the kids out of state yet, so he'll have to see if their nanny and security guard can stay over for the weekend, but if so, yes."

"Security guard? Wow. I didn't realize you two were that famous," Stephanie replied with a laugh.

"It's not for us," Suzie replied, glumly. "We had to get a restraining order against the children's bio-dad. He's hasn't taken losing his visitation well. He's made some threats about taking the kids and said some stuff about my being home alone with them at night, so Joey hired this guy we know who is an ex-Marine to watch out for us when he's gone, take the kids to and from school, and stuff like that." Seeing Stephanie's worried look, she tried to lighten the mood. "It's probably nothing," she said. "Don't worry. I think Joey hired him more because the guy needed a job than that he was actually worried about us."

Stephanie could tell Suzie was uncomfortable so decided to let it go for now. "Is your security guy cute? I remember that pool boy you had when I was in high school. I tried my best to get him to ask me out that summer Michelle and I stayed with you."

"He was gorgeous but dumb as box of rocks," Suzie laughed.

"The cute ones always are," she replied, solemnly.

"The cute ones are always what?" DJ asked, coming down the stairs with Kimmy.

"Dumb," Stephanie replied.

"That's not true. Matt is adorable and he's brilliant," she argued.

"So is Fernando," Kimmy piped up with a dreamy look on her face.

"Well, that's debatable," DJ said. She sat down by Suzie and Kimmy took the chair by the fireplace.

"Oh, leave Kimmy alone," Suzie replied. "She's conflicted. She loves him and she hates him. And he is a cutie pie."

"Thank you," Kimmy nodded.

"Okay," Stephanie interrupted. "Savannah's gone. Now you can keep telling about moving in here."

"Savvy has actually heard this story before, but sure," Suzie agreed.

* * *

1987

The truce lasted for two weeks. For those two weeks things were better. Joey had moved back into their room full time and Suzie's schedule had switched back to day shift so that she was home by dinner time most days.

Joey had found out that he'd been chosen to go on a two week comedy tour. At first, he was going to turn down the offer. It didn't seem like a good time to leave for two weeks, but Suzie had encouraged him to go. It was a great opportunity for him. It could be his big break and he was leaving in two days.

It was Suzie's day off. She had taken the girls to mall to do some early Christmas shopping and let the guys have an afternoon to themselves. They had gone to dinner and got back home late in the evening.

When she walked in the door, she could tell something was wrong. Nothing out of the ordinary was said, but Joey seemed to be glaring at her. She couldn't imagine what she had done.

Danny and Jesse were out, so the two of them set about getting the girls in bed. Once everyone was in bed, Suzie walked down to the kitchen with Joey.

"Okay, the girls are in bed. Do you mind telling me what I managed to do to you when I wasn't even here?" Suzie asked.

"I thought you weren't keeping secrets anymore," he said.

She shrugged and held up her hands. "I'm not unless it's a secret to me too."

He handed her a stack of papers. "Dr. McCarty came by to drop these off. When were you going to tell me that you were going to start working for him?"

"I'm not," she said, looking through the stack of employment forms. "He offered me a job and I said I would think about it. He said he would get me information on salary and stuff. I didn't ask for all this."

"So you didn't tell him that you were burnt out working in ER," Joey said.

"I might have," she admitted. "He caught me on a bad day and I was frustrated. He offered me the job and I said I would think about it. I thought hours might be better for us. This," she held up the papers, "is a bit presumptuous, but why are you mad at me about it? I didn't ask him to come by here and I didn't accept the job."

"Nothing about his job would be better for us," Joey replied. "You don't need to work for him."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"This job isn't going to be a good thing for you or us," he said.

"Better hours, better pay, I'm not seeing the bad part here," Suzie said. She flipped through the pages.

"Come on, Suzie, you really don't see it?" Joey asked.

She just looked at him.

"That guy is..., he's not who you think he is," he replied. "He didn't offer you this job because he's so desperate for a good nurse that he'll pay you twice what you make at the hospital. I'm telling you, don't take that job."

"You're telling me?" Suzie said in disbelief. "Since when do you tell me what I can and can't do?"

"Since you can't see what a bad ideal this is," Joey replied. He hadn't meant for it to sound as if he was telling her what to do, but he stood by what he had said. "That guy just wants to sleep with you."

"What?!" Her face changed from disbelief to anger. "You are unbelievable! He doesn't want to sleep with me! I know you don't think its important or a big deal and I may never get rich and famous but I am a damn good nurse. It may surprise you, but he really could just want me to come work for his clinic because I am that good and you know what else? It's nice to talk to someone who appreciates that sometimes." She stomped down stairs.

When Joey followed her down, she was throwing some clothes in a bag.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Leaving."

"I see that. Where are you going?"

"I'll spend the night at Karen's, go to work from there," she said, opening drawers and slamming them shut. "Where is my stupid name badge?" She asked, as though it was the loss of her badge that had her on the verge of tears.

"I put it in your purse," he said. "You washed it again."

"It needed to be cleaned," she said with a small smile, breaking the tension. "Thanks."

He crossed the space between them and put his arms around her waist. She didn't turn around but she didn't pull away either.

"Look," he said, finally. "Don't leave. I'll leave. This is your house."

She shook her head. "Danny needs you more than he needs me. Besides, you know this house isn't that important to me."

"Still.., stay. You're working tomorrow. I'm leaving for two weeks Monday," he said. "We'll just stay out of each others' way until then."

After a long moment, she nodded then turned and wrapped her arms around him.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean that you aren't good at your job. I know you are."

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. What do we do now?"

They talked well into the night, finally agreeing that they would get through the next few days and Suzie would move while Joey was gone.

* * *

The next night, DJ crept downstairs, hoping to watch TV without Danny knowing, since he had taken her portable TV two nights before when he had gone in to put Stephanie's tooth fairy money under her pillow and found DJ watching Letterman's countdown.

She stopped short when she saw Joey sitting on the hide-a-bed, looking at his notes for the trip.

"Busted," she said, when he looked up at her before she could sneak back upstairs.

"Yep," he agreed. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted. "I thought...,"

"No one would know if you came down and watched TV," he filled in.

"Yeah," she nodded. "What are you doing up here? Are you sleeping in the alcove?"

"Well," he stalled. "Aunt Suzie isn't feeling too well and I wasn't sleepy either. So I came up here to rehearse some more. Then I thought I should just sleep up here, so I don't get sick while I'm away."

"Oh," she said, accepting the explanation. "Are you really going to be gone for two whole weeks?"

He nodded. He couldn't get out of the trip, he'd tried but he had signed a contract.

"What if you miss Christmas?" she asked.

"DJ, you know I'll be home well before then," he said.

She nodded again. "But won't you miss Aunt Suzie?"

He looked down for a moment, then said, "I already do." After a pause, he added, "I'll miss you all, but it won't be that long. You'll see. I'll call every night and I'll be home before you know it."

She smiled, "Okay. Are you going to tell Dad that I was going to sneak down and watch TV?"

He shook his head. "Not if you go to bed right now and get some sleep."

She nodded and hugged him. "I'll miss you, too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, DJ."

* * *

The next morning, both Suzie and Joey were quieter than usual.

"Is it time?" Suzie asked as he came in the living room with his bag. She was sitting on the sofa, feeding Michelle.

She put the bottle on the coffee table and stood up.

"Aw, come here, Michelle," he said, taking her from Suzie. "I'm going to miss you. Give me a kiss."

She kissed him. "Alright. Goodbye, Sweetheart." He kissed her and set her in the playpen before turning to Suzie.

"So," he said. "I guess this is it."

"I guess," she said.

They stood there awkwardly for a minute.

"Come here," he said, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. She hugged him tightly.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," he replied. "Always have." He put his hand under her chin, making her look up at him. "Look, Sue, we don't have to do this. Take some time off. Come with me. We'll get away from everything, we can work this out. It'll be good for us."

She didn't reply. She wanted to say yes but she couldn't. She was frantically thinking through how to make that happen when a car horned beeped outside. "I can't," she said. "One trip isn't going to make everything okay. We'll talk when you get back, okay?"

His shoulders fell and he nodded, "Yeah, okay." He kissed her. "If you change your mind, you know how to find me."

She nodded and hugged him one more time before he left. She stood at the door for a few minutes, practically willing herself not to go after him. Then she walked back into the kitchen and dropped Michelle's bottle in the sink.

"You okay?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"No." The word was more sob than speech.

Jesse hugged her. "Hey. It's okay. Look, I can't even begin to understand what you are going through but Joey's a great guy. Doesn't have much fashion sense, but he loves you like crazy. Everything's going to work out."

"I have to get to work," she said, wiping her eyes. She stopped at the door. "Thanks, Jess."

"Anytime," he nodded.

* * *

Please R and R.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: This is AU.

* * *

1987

It didn't take long for Suzie to find an apartment. A complex near the hospital had vacancies and a lot of her co-workers lived there and recommended it. Still, she had waited until that weekend to go look at one, then it was Wednesday of the next week before she signed the papers and did a final walk through before moving in.

For some reason, Jesse had insisted on going with her. So after depositing Michelle with Mrs. Bitterman down the street, they got on Jesse's motorcycle and took off downtown.

Stopping at the apartment complex, she pulled off her helmet and stepped off the back.

"So?" Jesse asked.

"I used to ride with Pete," she grinned. "You can't scare me."

"True," he said, looking slightly disappointed. Then he started shooting off rapid fire questions about the complex. When did they get their last inspection? What pest control service did they use? Had Suzie seen their last results?

"Jesse! I'm sure it's fine," she said. "They passed their requirements."

"Yeah, that don't mean nothing," he said. "Place like this will pay some crooked service to write up a clean bill without inspecting the place,then just bring them into spray once a year when the building inspectors are coming around."

"Okay, whatever," she agreed with a shake of her head.

After looking in every corner, cabinet, and drawer he could find, Jesse had to admit, the apartment didn't have bugs or rodents. Still, he kept checking, finally opening the cabinet under the kitchen sink and smiled. The apartments didn't have a bug problem but they did have a messy plumber who didn't clean up after himself. Jesse spread the pile of sawdust and drywall dust out before calling out, "Bingo!"

"What?" Suzie asked, walking up behind him.

"Silverfish," he said.

"Where?" She didn't see anything.

"Right there. That's silverfish droppings," he pointed, hoping she wouldn't know the difference.

"Jesse, that's sawdust," she replied.

"Well, yeah, there's sawdust but you see all the stuff mixed in with it? That's silverfish poop," he shrugged.

"Gross!" She said, stepping back slightly.

He shut the cabinet and stood up, looking for something to clean his hands with. "Tell you what. When Danny gets home this evening, we'll come back, I'll spray the whole place for you. Of course, that means you won't be able to move in for a few more days."

"How many?" She asked suspiciously.

"Four or five," he answered, again counting on her not to know enough about the bug business to argue.

She eyed him critically. "You wouldn't just be saying this so that I'll have to stick around and see Joey when he gets home this weekend, would you?"

"Are you kidding me?" he shot back. "As soon as you move out, I'm going to convince Joey to change rooms with me."

"Why?"

"My own bathroom and outside access," he said. "Be a heck of a lot easier to get a chick's phone number if I don't have to tell her that I live across the hall from my nieces so don't call too late."

"I'm sure you have so much trouble," she scoffed.

"Well, if that doesn't kill the romance, the pink bunnies finish the job," he smirked.

Suzie laughed before saying, "Okay. We'll spray for bugs, but you have to help me move in on Monday."

"Deal," he replied.

* * *

1987

The next day was supposed to be her day off, but with her new apartment full of bug killer, she had decided to go in to work and make the schedules and catch up on some paperwork.

She ran into Tom in the cafeteria.

"Hello, Suzanna," he said, smiling. "I thought it was your day off."

"Just catching up paperwork," she replied. "No patients. I didn't wear my uniform so I'd be forced to stay in my office and get caught up."

"Have you given any thoughts to that job offer?" He asked.

"Well..," she hedged. If Joey was that dead set against her taking that job, she had been thinking that she probably turn down the offer, if for no other reason than to respect his opinion.

"Tell you what," he said. "Don't answer yet. Let me take you over to the clinic, show you your office, talk about job specifics, then you can decide, okay?"

She didn't answer right away.

"Look, I know you're going through some stuff, but just come see the office and hear me out," he said. "I'll get my HR girl to come over and talk with us. Please?"

"Okay," she finally agreed.

That's how she found herself sitting in his private office two hours later, wishing she hadn't given in. He'd made a really good offer and she was finding it hard to say no.

"Thanks, Caroline," he said, excusing his HR rep when she expressed the need to get back to work on the payroll.

"It was nice to meet you," Suzie said as she left the room. Much to her surprise, Tom didn't immediately launch back in to his job pitch. He walked around his desk and took the seat next to her that Caroline had just vacated.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush," he said, finally. "I've heard the rumors around that hospital. How are you doing, really?"

"I'm fine," she answered.

"Have you found a place yet?" he asked.

"I've found a few good ones," she replied.

He put his hand on her knee and leaned in close to her. Suzie looked at his hand, then back up at him. She pushed his hand away and stood up.

"Well, thank you," she said. "I really appreciate the offer, but I think I should probably just stick with my ER job for awhile."

She started towards the door, but he put himself between her and it.

"Suzie, wait." He put his hands on her shoulders, closing the space between them. "I have a confession. I didn't offer you this job for purely professional reasons. I wanted to get to know you better. I think we could be a great couple."

"I'm married," she said, trying to pull away.

"That clown from the comedy club? You can't be serious about him," he replied. "You're separated."

"He's not a clown. You don't know anything about him," she said.

He didn't respond. Instead he tried to kiss her, his fingers digging painfully into her shoulders. She shoved him hard, making him let go and stumble back. She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"Wait, Suzie," he said.

She paused for a moment. "Don't ever speak to me again," she spat out, before slamming the door on her way out.

She stormed in the kitchen when she got home.

"Whoa," Jesse said. He was standing at the sink, washing vegetables for supper. "Where have you been?"

"I went to talk to Dr. McCarty about a job. Can I ask, did I miss something?" She asked, sitting down on one of the bar stools.

"God, I hope so," Jesse replied. "Otherwise I may have to reevaluate my opinion about you. What happened?"

"He tried to kiss me."

"He what?! Did you tell him where to get off?" Jesse demanded.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"About time," Jesse said. "I'd have punched him. That guy's a jerk. He used telling you how sorry he was about Pam's death to hit on you."

"What? What do you mean?"

"He white knighted you," Jesse said, then seeing her confused look, explained. "He tried to swoop in and make you think he was taking care of everything for you. 'Let me call the agency lady. Let me take you to see Danny. Call me if you need anything.' It was classic. I wanted to knock his teeth out and I'm not married to you."

"That's why I didn't get it," Suzie realized. "He didn't help me. I already knew Cara Jenkins and I have more pull in that hospital than he does. I just thought he was just being nice."

"Yeah, well then the jerk comes over here, heavily implying that you and he already have a relationship and making out that he knew more about you than Joe does," he said.

"No wonder Joey was mad at me," she replied, running her fingers through her hair. "He tried to warn me and I just wouldn't listen. I've got to talk to him."

"Latest number is by the phone," Jesse said.

She sat down at the desk and dialed the number. "He's already gone," she said, hanging up the phone. She laid her head on the desk and hoped that statement wasn't more true than she realized.

"Where's he at tonight?" Jesse asked.

"Denver State."

"Go see him," he replied. "Hop a flight, you'll be there by dark."

"It's not that easy," she said.

"Sure it is."

"I have to work tomorrow and he'll be home on Saturday," she protested.

"So? Tell you what," Jesse said, walking towards her. "Go put on your hottest outfit, don't worry about packing, fly out, see his show, spend the night with him, then fly back in time for your shift tomorrow. Go, get ready, I'll make the arrangements." He was pulling her towards the basement stairs.

"Okay," she agreed, actually getting excited.

Forty-five minutes later, she was all set.

"Have mercy," Jesse said approvingly as she walked into the living room.

"Good?" she asked with a nervous smile. She tugged at the hem of her skirt. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress she had bought for a hospital fundraiser two years before. She had her hair pinned up in a messy bun and she had on stilettos.

Jesse looked at her for a moment, pulled the pins from her hair and let fall around her shoulders, then fluffed it a bit. "Joey won't know what hit him." He gave her a thumb's up. "So, listen, your flight leaves at 4, that'll put you in Denver by 6:30. That gives you plenty of time to catch a cab and find the club. You got cash? You need anything?"

"I think I'm good," she said. The cab honked outside. "Thanks, Jess."

"Knock'em dead, Sis," he replied, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead.

* * *

Please R and R.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: This is AU.

* * *

1987

Due to a delayed landing, Suzie didn't get to Denver State until almost 8. She found the small club easily. She didn't see Joey in the audience, but she did recognize Bruce from the Laugh Machine on the stage. According to the marque, that meant Joey would be up next. He was already backstage getting ready. She took a seat in the back of the room thinking she would watch his set, then slip backstage and surprise him.

For the first time in years, she actually watched Joey when he was onstage and found herself laughing along with the crowd as he talked about being an Army brat. When his set was almost over, she slipped out of her seat and headed backstage. She was stopped by a bouncer, but Bruce came to her rescue.

"It's okay. She's with us. Her husband is onstage," he said.

The bouncer shrugged and stepped aside.

"Wow, you look great," Bruce said, hugging her. "Special occasion?"

"Something like that," she replied, looking around nervously.

"Well, listen, wait right here. Joe'll be done soon. I have to go call Darla," he said, speaking of his girlfriend of more years than either could count. "It was great to see you."

"You too," she replied. She took a seat at the small table Bruce had led her to and watched the stage entrance. A small woman with red-ish blonde hair was standing at the entrance, Sue assumed, to wait her turn. Sue smiled as she heard him saying goodbye to the crowd.

She stood up when she saw him and started to walk towards him, but the woman at the stage entrance stopped him and hugged him, then she kissed him. Suzie felt as though she had been slapped. She knew that she had all but ended things, still, she didn't think he would be with someone else so soon. She turned on her heel and practically ran out and hailed a cab.

"Whoa," Joey pushed the woman away, then led her a few steps away from the stage entrance. "I..., I think I might have given you the wrong idea, Roxy. I'm married."

"I know," she said, with a shrug. "But you did say you were separated and the tour ends tomorrow so I figured this was my last chance.."

Joey sighed. "I'm so sorry if I misled you, Roxy. I'm still so in love with my wife that if there is even a chance that she wants to get back together, I have to wait for that."

"She's a lucky girl," Roxy said. "Still friends?"

He smiled and nodded. "Of course." He hugged her.

"Go call her," Roxy said, pointing him towards the phone bay.

"Hey," Bruce put his hand over the receiver and caught Joey's arm. "Hey, did Suzie find you?"

"Suzie?" He asked confused.

"Yeah, she was looking for you. I took her backstage," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," Bruce replied. "About ten minutes ago."

"Ten minutes..., backstage...," Joey closed his eyes. "No. Oh no. Look, Bruce, I've got to go. Cover for me, okay?"

Bruce nodded his agreement as Joey rushed out of the club.

Suzie was just getting into a cab when he got outside.

"Suzie!" He called out. She turned and looked at him, then started to get in the cab again. "Suzanna, please! Wait!" he tried again.

"Give me a minute, okay?" she asked the driver as Joey reached her. "What is it?"

He started to hug her, but she stepped back effectively putting the cab door between them.

"I can't believe you're here," he said. "I never expected you to come to a show."

"Obviously," she replied coldly.

"Roxy kissed me, I didn't kiss her," he said.

"She just kissed you for no reason?"

He looked down for a moment. "No," he admitted. "We've gone to eat together a few times."

"You went out with her?"

"It wasn't like that," he insisted. "We just talked. And you know what, it nice to talk to a woman who looked at me and not through me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Suzie asked. "I look at you. I talk to you."

"No, you don't. You look at the girls, you look at your feet, your hands, or worse, at the wall behind me, but you don't look at me." He said, finding that he couldn't hold back everything he hadn't been saying. "You act like I'm not here. I've always been there. You've never had to deal with anything alone. You chose that. You act like you're the only one who is hurt, like you're the only one who lost someone. I lost someone too, but I can't talk to you about it. I can't talk to you about anything because when things get too hard, you run away. You always run away and then I lose you too." He stopped for a moment, then said quieter, "I love you, Suzie. I've loved you since we were kids, but I'm tired of being invisible."

Suzie stared at him. He was right. It had been a long time since she had thought about his feelings in all this. It had been a long time since she had thought about his feelings at all. He had always seemed so strong through it all, it was easy to ignore that every child she had lost, he had too. Her heart knew what she should do. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, apologize and tell him how much she loved him and hated how she had been feeling. She just couldn't though. She knew that the one thing he wanted more than to be a comic was to be a father and have a large family and as long as he was married to her, that wasn't going to happen. She also knew that he would never leave her. He would give up what he wanted to make her happy. It was what he had always done. It was what he would always do. She couldn't let him.

"In or out, Lady," the cab driver said, interrupting her thoughts. She looked at him then back at Joey.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come here. I'm sorry." She quickly got in the cab and shut the door before she could change her mind.

* * *

2016

"You left him standing there?" Stephanie exclaimed. "Aunt Sue, that was straight up cold."

"I thought I was doing the right thing," she replied, trying to defend herself.

"When did you figure out that you weren't?" DJ asked.

"The plane? Takeoff? I'm not sure, but I do know that I cried all the way home. Like full on, ugly cry," she said. She poured herself another glass of wine. "Didn't care. I couldn't even talk when I called home to get someone to pick me up. I think I managed to say, "Jesse" and he jumped on his Harley and came to my rescue, of course."

* * *

1987

It was after midnight when she got back to San Francisco. With not one taxi to be found, Suzie made her way over to a bank of pay phones. It took three tries to get the quarter in the slot and another five minutes before she thought she had her tears in check enough to speak on the off chance that DJ was up late and answered. She was relieved to hear a gruff voice on the other end.

"H'lo?"

"Jesse?" That was all she could say before a sob tore from her throat.

"Suzie?" He asked confused. "Where are you?" Then his voice changed, sounding more awake and alert. "Airport?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Stay there," he directed. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

She was still leaning against the wall by the phones when Jesse got there twenty minutes later.

"Aw, sis," he said, pulling her into a hug. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around her thin shoulders. "Let's get you home. We can talk about it in the morning."

She nodded mutely and let him lead her through airport out to the street.

* * *

1987

"You're coming home early?" Danny said into the phone. "Why?" He listened for a moment then glared at Jesse. "Yeah, no problem. I'll tell her," he said before hanging up.

He walked over to the counter where Jesse was feeding the girls breakfast.

"Where is my sister?" he asked, eyeing Jesse suspiciously.

"In bed, I guess," he replied, trying to act innocent.

"So, she is here? Great. Joey's been calling her all morning and she isn't answering. He's worried sick." Danny put his hands over Stephanie's ears while Jesse did the same thing to DJ. "What the hell did you do?" Danny demanded.

"You know how we said we weren't going to interfere?" Jesse said.

"Yes."

"I might have interfered, just a little," he admitted.

"Guys, you know we can still hear you right?" DJ asked. She shrugged Jesse away and stood up, grabbing her backpack. "Come on, Steph. They're being weird, even for them. Let's go wait for the bus outside."

"Okay," Stephanie replied, amicably. She kissed Danny and Jesse before following DJ out the door.

"What did you do?" Danny demanded again.

"Well, you know how I sprayed Suzie's new apartment for silverfish? It doesn't. I just thought if she stayed here a while longer, she would have to talk to Joe and maybe they wouldn't separate," Jesse said with a shrug. "And see it was working because she told that creep doctor to shove it and she flew out to Denver to see Joey last night, only I don't know what happened then because she was going to stay with him overnight and I was going to pick her up at ten and drop her off at work, but she called me a midnight. I picked her up and that's all I know. I swear." He held his hands in surrender.

"Alright," Danny said going back to the phone. "You go wake up Suzie. I'm going to call Joey back and let him know that she got home safely."

"I'm not asleep," she said, coming up the stairs from the basement. It was clear she hadn't slept at all.

"Then why haven't you answered the phone?" Danny asked.

She shrugged, sitting down at the table. She crossed her legs and pulled Michelle out of the high chair and settled her in her lap. "The only people who would call that number is Joey and the hospital. I don't want talk to him and I don't want to go to work early, so I thought it best to not answer."

"What happened last night?" Jesse asked, sitting a cup of coffee in front of her.

She was silent. Just before he asked again, she took a deep breath and said, "I left."

"Why?"

"He deserves someone better than me," she said, playing with Michelle's hair.

"What brought this on?" Jesse asked. "You left here yesterday, ready to take on the world."

"I got there and he was happy," she said. "And then I saw him kiss his friend Roxie and...,"

"What?!" Danny interrupted.

She shook her head at him. "Danny, don't be mad at Joey. This was all me. I all but told him it was over when he left. Anyway, he said she kissed him. He said they'd gone out a few times and they just talked. I don't know. He said it was just nice to talk to a woman who would look at him."

She looked up to see both men nodding in agreement with Joey.

"He's not wrong in that," Danny said.

"I know," she replied. "He said that I don't look at him anymore. That I don't talk to him, that I act like he is invisible and I realized that he's right and he doesn't deserve that. So, I left."

Both men were quiet. Finally, Danny spoke up, "Look, Sue, you're my sister and I am always on your side, but I have to say, you haven't been very nice to him lately. Joey loves you and I know you love him. But I've watched you push him, push him, and push him away. He's stuck with you and made excuses for you, and tried to help you, but... I don't know. I not going to take a side. I won't tell you what to do but you should probably think really long and hard if you really want this separation because I don't know how much more he's going to stick around for."

She nodded and kissed Michelle's head. She stood up and handed Michelle off to Jesse. "Thanks, guys," she said, wiping her eyes. "I've got to get ready for work."

"Don't you think you should take the day off?" Jesse asked. "You haven't slept all night."

"I'll be fine," she said. "It's a short shift. I'll come home and crash."

She went downstairs to get ready.

"Are you going to tell her Joey's coming home today?" Jesse asked.

Danny shook his head. "If I tell her that, she won't come home early."

"I thought we weren't interfering," Jesse said.

"Well, you interfered a little," he shrugged. "Now, I get to interfere a little."

"Ahh...," Jesse grinned. "Sneaky. Daniel, I do think I've been a bad influence on you."

Danny smiled back. "I'm going to go call Joey and let him know she made it home okay."

* * *

Please R and R.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: This is AU.

***Warning: Violence described***

* * *

1987

Suzie knew she shouldn't have gone to work. She also knew that she couldn't stay at home so there wasn't much choice. When she got to the hospital, everything was quiet. She wasn't even needed on the floor so she had spent the morning in her office, catching up on charts, inventory, personnel, and pretty much anything else she could find. However, she was so distracted that an hour's worth of work took her three hours to finish. She knew she have gone home then. She wouldn't have allowed another nurse to work feeling like she was but she didn't know anything else to do. If she went home, Joey would be calling and Danny would be giving her 'that look'. The look that said she was making a huge mistake. Well, maybe she was but she didn't need to hear it from him.

She reached for the phone again. She had done this three times before without even thinking. She wanted to talk to Joey. She wanted to hear his voice. How many bad days had she had at work that just a call to him had made better? He never cared if it was four in the afternoon or four in the morning. He would listen as she vented off her frustrations, then he would crack a joke. She would laugh. He would tell her that he loved her and the day would look better. Suddenly she realized what a horrible mistake she had made. She grabbed the phone and dialed the number before she could change her mind.

"Hello?"

Shoot. It wasn't him. "Hey, Bruce," she said. "This is Suzie. Is Joey around?"

"Man, Sue, y'all are playing some really weird game of tag," Bruce laughed. "He left this morning to head home early. You didn't know?"

"I didn't get a chance to talk to him this morning. I didn't know when he was leaving," she covered. "Thanks." She hung up.

"Nurse Gladstone?" A young nurse tapped on her office door.

"Yes, Amanda?"

"My patient in room four won't let me come in his room," she explained. "When I try to go in there he starts yelling, calling me names, and he threw a bedpan at me and Dr. Peters wants him to have a sedative as soon as possible. Nurse Santoni said to come tell you. She said he listens to you sometimes."

"I'll handle it," Suzie sighed. She knew the patient Amanda was talking about. He was a frequent customer to their ER and for some reason, he liked Suzie. He was often mean and insulting to other caregivers but she had to admit that throwing things was new. Well, she would just go give him his medicine, make sure it knocked him out, then she was leaving early. She had to talk to Joey and she couldn't wait.

"Hey, Karen?" she asked as she walked over to the nurse's station to check the patient's chart. "Can you cover for me this afternoon? I've got something I have to do."

"Are you sick?" Karen asked, feigning shock. "You never leave early."

"Not sick, just incredibly stupid," she replied. "I'll give you the lowdown later, but I need to go see Joey."

"I can cover," Karen said immediately.

"Thanks. Would it be too much to ask if you could take my shift tomorrow too?" she asked hopefully.

"Ugh," Karen groaned, then said, "Sure. I could use the money. Are you going to give Four his sedative first? He yelled at me until Peters threw me out of the room so he could examine him."

"Yeah, I got it," she replied, drawing up some medicine. "He's over the top today. What's the deal?"

Karen shrugged. "He fell down his stairs but claims he was pushed. The Doctor had him put in restraints and still couldn't examine him."

"Well, let's see if he still likes me," Suzie replied, heading down the hall.

Everyone makes mistakes. Usually, they are small, they don't really make a difference, or they are easily corrected. And sometimes, you don't get a second chance to fix it. Sometimes one mistake can change your whole life and that day, Suzie made two such mistakes back to back.

"Hello, Mr. Anders," she said, brightly. "How are you feeling today?"

He didn't say anything, but he didn't throw anything either as she walked over to far side of his bed to retrieve a pair of gloves. That was her first mistake. How many times had she cautioned nursing students to never let a dangerous patient get between them and the door to the room? Yet she didn't even notice that she had just done that to herself.

"The doctor wants me to give you some medicine to help you rest," she said, pulling on her gloves.

"He wants you to poison me," Mr. Anders snapped, flinching away.

"Now, you know me," she said, calmly. "Have I ever poisoned you?"

He gave her a dark look but replied, "No."

She smiled at him and reached for his blankets, making her second mistake of not personally checking his restraints before getting within his reach. He suddenly struck out with his fist, connecting with her cheek hard enough to send her sprawling to the floor, breaking her nose, and busting her lip. Though dazed, she quickly got to her feet and tried to reach the panic button to call for help but the patient had also gotten the restraints undone and gotten to his feet. He grabbed her hair and pulled her backward, throwing her to the floor again.

She scrambled to her feet again, praying that she could make it to the panic button.

Nurses don't run, they like to keep things nice and calm. But when Karen heard the panic alarm go off, she dropped her stethoscope and ran. She didn't even look at the board. She knew where it was coming from. She burst in the door for room four.

"Call Security," she yelled at the ward clerk. "Dr. Peters! David! Help me!"

* * *

1987

Danny didn't work on Fridays to free him up to do the weekend sports. Of course, Jesse didn't share that with Nick. He wasn't going to give up the last day of his two weeks off.

He was sitting at the bar, watching Danny re-clean the kitchen that Jesse had thought was already clean enough. When the phone rang, he grabbed it, "Talk to me." He was quiet for a minute. "He's not here. Can I take a message?" He listened again. "Okay, he is here." He held the phone out to Danny. "They want to talk to you."

Danny took the phone and Jesse would later swear that he turned gray as he listened. Jesse didn't have to ask who the call was about. He knew. He knew because he could imagine that he was wearing the same look when Joey had called him in the middle of the night back in February. He shifted from foot to foot as he waited for Danny to tell him what had happened.

"I understand," Danny said. He hung up the phone and stood silently for a minute. "That was one of Suzie's co-workers. She's been in an accident."

"How bad is it? What do we need to do?" Jesse asked, trying not to be impatient.

"Bad. She's in surgery. They said..., They said Joey needs to be there as soon as possible," Danny replied.

"Okay," Jesse said. He could handle this. She was alive. He could handle alive. "You go to the hospital. I'll call Mom to come get Michelle and wait for the girls, then I'll go to the airport and pick Joey up and take him to the hospital."

Danny didn't say anything, he just continued to stand there, looking at the phone.

"Don't think that, Man," Jesse said. "It won't happen again. Don't even think it. Just go."

"Right," Danny replied, snapping out of it.

* * *

Please R and R. Sorry for the short chapter.


End file.
